A Hero's Path
by LoinkWritesStuff
Summary: In the town of Blockfield, a young boy named David is beginning to attend a newly built school, along with his two only friends. But when a Wither attacks his home village, his friends choose to leave to go to Diamond City for help, so he decides to tag along. But along the way, they learn that there may be more to this Wither attack than they could have realized.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

_Do you sense it?_

_Yes, I do…_

_The Reader has clicked onto the link, and now the story of this world shall shortly begin…_

_Or perhaps it has started again, depending on if this is the first time the Reader has opened this document…_

_Yes, this being outside of our knowledge is one of the many unfortunate limitations of being the product of an inspiration…_

_Nonetheless, I'm sure they must be confused as to who we are…_

_Or perhaps they are not… Perhaps they already have begun to suspect who we are… Many of the readers have read the poem, you know…_

_Yes, and some of they may have come from the storymaker's other series..._

_Ah, the one that unfortunately did not work out so well..._

_Yes, but do not worry, those from that other series, that story still happened in this world..._

_And it was completed, it was only the storymaker who failed to complete it for the Reader..._

_But there is no need to worry about another hiatus, I am sure he will not let any more people down..._

_Yes… ah, we seem to have momentarily forgotten about the audience that is unfamiliar with the other series..._

_I shall explain ourselves to them, just in case…_

_Go ahead…_

_We are that of which humans seek to understand, that of which humans can never reach..._

_We are the very essence of life…_

_We are the incarnations of non-life..._

_We are that which exists but longs to exist even more..._

_We are the universe longing to understand you, longing to feel the joys and despairs of existence..._

_We are eternity, and we are you..._

_We are what you think we may be, and at the same time we are what you suspect we are not…_

_We are not the same as those who speak of the End Poem, rather, we are imitations of them…_

_Yes, and we exist alongside the potentially real universe that contains a world called Minecraftia… A world with quite a history, both positive and negative…_

_Yes… It is a troubled land indeed…_

_And you may want to pay attention, Reader__, f__or there is a story beyond the story of the document you currently possess…_

_If you do pay attention, you might be able to learn something knew…_

_This story may change something within you…_

_You might view Minecraft or even life itself in a different light…_

_Of course, these are just mere speculation… This story may change the way you see the game, or it may not…_

_That is up to the Reader…_

_Reader, there will be some parts that you might not particularly enjoy. That is to be expected in a fanfiction novel…_

_But please, give this world a chance to blossom... You may find that despite the flaws you may or may not find within it, that the story you watch unfold before you is one of great beauty..._

_There is so much more we wish to tell you, but alas, we must wrap this up before the story begins, and then we'll allow the Narrator to take it from there… Do you wish to share it?_

_Yes… Reader, there is one more thing the storymaker would have us tell you before the story officially begins… The storymaker, he wishes for you to enjoy the story that he has prepared for you. He spent five years on this tale, and he gave up a lot in his life to piece it all together. He gave up too much, in fact, the foolish man. But if you, the Reader, do not enjoy this tale, then he insists that you do not read anymore of his tales if you do not wish to…_

_Of course, you would not have anyways. But keep in mind that the storymaker has put everything he could into this novel, and he has tried as hard as he could to go through the story in the eyes of a reader so that he could perfect it. And that can be very difficult to pull off at times when you are the all-knowing creator of the story…_

_Okay, I think the Reader has heard enough about the storymaker for now…_

_One final thing, we will make quite a few appearances throughout the story. Our purpose is to either reveal hidden events, or inform the Reader and hero..._

_Just remember to pay attention to the story and its series if you wish, so that you may unlock the lore of Minecraftia…_

_And do not forget to leave a review. The storymaker has had a rough time on other internet s__i__tes getting his work reviewed. Without __criticism__, a work cannot be improved upon..._

_Now, we shall speak no more. It is time for the Narrator to have their chance to explain the setting…_

_This will be the storymaker's proudest work... The story of a boy who would against all odds become one of Minecraftia's greatest heroes..._

_Have fun, and turn to the next page to begin the tale… of David, the Hero of legacy…_

_**Narration**_

_A lone man ran through the dark halls of a stronghold, not minding the darkness due to the lasting effects of the night vision potion he had consumed._

_"Where is the portal?" the man muttered to himself impatiently. "It should be around here."_

_A creeper appeared from an ancient library and the man drew his iron sword, its used blade shining weakly in the torchlight, and slammed the flat of the blade into the creeper, knocking it down to the ground. The man didn't want to take the time needed to end the mob, so he simply ran past it while the creeper struggled uselessly to get back to its feet._

_"Where is it, where is it?!" the man muttered under his breath, "The Eyes led me directly to the stronghold. Perhaps I should use another Eye?" He stopped for a moment to think, then shook his head._

_"No, there's no point in it. I'm not even looking for that portal." The man turned down a corner and let out a triumphant cheer as he came upon a chamber. "Ah-hah! There it is!" he laughed as he entered the portal room. Before him stood not the end portal, but a Nether portal, one that had been used in the ancient past by a forgotten hero on their quest. The portal was inactive, but from it he could sense there was an enormous history with this particular portal. History long forgotten by most of humanity for reasons unknown._

_"Finally! It's time!" the man cackled. He approached the portal with a flint and steel in his hands, prepared to strike them together. All the portals to the Nether had been destroyed during the war nearly a century ago, once entry into the Nether had been declared a taboo by the Cities of Harmony that had established law and order across the Overworld. And while he could have simply built a portal himself, only this one led to the ruins of the once-mighty master Nether Fortress._

_As he ignited the portal, it boomed and the entire frame was filled with swirling purple otherworldly energy. Particles began to form and float around the portal and he took a closer step towards it._

_"Yes… yes… YES!" he hollered triumphantly. "It worked! Finally, the way to the Nether is open. The portal that had been built by the ancient hero of Minecraftia, I found it! And at last," The man put on a devious grin, "I shall construct the Wither. And once I do, all of humanity shall know my name!" He let out his triumphant laugh and entered the Nether portal._


	2. Just a Typical Day

_**Narration**_

_ It had been just normal day in the land of Minecraftia. The chickens were clucking; the pigs were oinking. The day was nearly over, the sun was at the bottom of the horizon. And in the peaceful village of Blockfield, a young boy in particular was playing around in the local stables with the horses._

"_Hey horsey!" he said with excitement as he pet one, then tried to jump on its back. The horse snorted, then bucked the little boy off and walked away. The boy fell on the ground, but wasn't hurt. "Hehehe," he laughed giddily as a colt began to nuzzle his armpit curiously, sniffing it loudly. "you want to play too?" He began to rub the horse's neck. It snorted with contentment._

"_David?" Mom's voice called from his house a dozen blocks down the street._

"_Yeah, Mom?" he called back._

"_Are you in the stables again?" her voice questioned._

"_Maybe!" the young boy shouted._

"_Get out of there! You know Mr. Billy wouldn't like you to be there without his permission!" her voice ordered._

"_Awww, fiinnee…" he moaned and made his way out of the stables, making sure he closed the fence gates this time. Last time young David had forgotten, horse colts had gotten out and Mr. Billy yelled at him._

"_Come inside, dinner's ready!" Mom added. David looked back at the horses and grinned._

"_I'll try to bring some more apples and sugar with me next time." the young boy promised and ran over to his house._

**_David's POV_**

Mom and Dad sat at the dinner table, waiting for me. Paws, our orange tabby cat, lay curled up on a furnace, snoring away. I quickly rushed into my seat and looked at my dinner. We were having cooked porkchops, apples, rabbit stew, and a baked potato-along with glasses of water.

"Be sure to eat everything, deary." Mom said.

"Yes, Mom." I replied as I picked up the apple and took a huge bite.

"So, David…" Dad started between bites, "Did you see Emily again today?"

"No, I played with the animals today." I answered.

"Even though we told you not to…" Mom murmured.

"I just can't help myself. Horses are so cool!" I finished off the apple and picked up the baked potato next.

"They're dangerous. If you approach one from behind, or surprise them in any way, they could panic and hurt you." she muttered to herself, "I just worry…"

"Ah, come on Maria. I remember when I used to play with animals all the time when I was young." Dad said with a smile, "And look at how I am now."

"That's not reassuring…" Mom mumbled and Dad chuckled.

"Anyway, so I hear from the other villagers that the school will be open in a couple days." she said.

"That's good to hear." Dad muttered.

"Especially considering most of the other villages have their own schools right now. The school itself was built in a couple days. Finding the right teacher and organizing the schedule seems to be a lot more difficult." she murmured.

"Oh yeah." Dad replied, though I could tell he wasn't listening.

"I hear the Administration for the Education of Youth is sending a teacher from Diamond City." she revealed, which caught Dad's attention.

"What? Did you say Diamond City?" Dad gasped and bits of food particles flew out of his mouth. "That's pretty great to hear!" Mom sighed in annoyance.

"Honestly, Joseph, that's disgusting." she scolded, "We're not animals, so don't eat like one."

"Actually, I heard from Professor Martin that humans technically _are_ animals, just a vastly superior type of them. You know how smart he is." Dad pointed out.

"That's not the point…" Mom bit her lip, as she always did whenever she was annoyed.

"Alright, I'm sorry for spitting, honey." Dad apologized, a playful smile on his face. Mom sighed.

"Anyway, so this new teacher supposedly is great with kids."

"The big question is; will they teach David how to use swords?" Dad pondered, "He's going to need to learn combat training for when he eventually grows up and moves away."

"I surely hope so." Mom took a bite of her porkchop, then continued, "I would expect that the one of the first things they are going to teach students is basic combat. Thank goodness we have the iron golem to patrol the village."

"You mean Bob?" I reminded.

"Yes, deary, I mean Bob." she smiled.

"He gave me a flower today." I said gleefully and brought out the poppy. Or was it a rose? I had heard people call it both of those things.

"Wow, that's really nice to hear. Did you thank Bob?"

"Oh, um… no…" I mumbled once I remembered the incident. Dad gave me a goofy shrug.

"David, you really have to work on that." he reminded.

"Sorry…" I heard a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Mom got up and headed over to the door. Once she opened the door, I heard a familiar voice come from outside.

"Hi, Mrs. Stonefield, may I come in?" Emma's voice requested.

"Emily?! What're you doing out this late at night!? Come in!" Mom ordered.

"Thank you." I looked back and watched as Emma entered the house, and Mom closed the door behind her.

"Come, eat with us. You haven't had dinner yet, have you?" Mom questioned her.

"Well, Auntie tried to get me to eat carrots, but I hid them and pretended that I ate them." she said. I recalled that Emma hated to eat carrots. One time, she made herself throw up a bunch of carrot particles while we were playing. It was disgusting.

"Then, come sit with us. You can sit right next to David. I'll get you some food." Emma ran over to the seat next to me and sat down. I noticed she was still in her typical light blue dress. She seemed to always be wearing it every time I saw her. "Hey David!" she grinned. Emma was one of my best friends, and one of the only people I got along with, along with another boy named Andrew.

"Hi Emma." I replied and smiled back. I looked at Dad, who seemed to watch us with a weird knowing sort of look in his eyes. He also had a strange smile. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"So, Emily," he started, "what about your aunt? Did she let you out at night?"

"Oh, um… she didn't." Emma admitted, "I kinda… snuck out on my own after she went to sleep."

"Really?!" Dad stammered, "Emma, you know you shouldn't do that!"

"I know… but… it's just that she always goes to bed early. She makes me go to bed early too. It's unfair!"

"Well, here you go!" Mom said as she placed down a porkchop, baked potato, apple, a bowl of stew, and a glass of water.

"Thank you, Mrs. Stonefield." Emma started with the potato.

"See, David? She says thank you." Mom pointed out, giving me a smile.

"Mom!" I whined. Emma giggled.

"Well, after you've eaten your dinner, I think you should head back home." Dad suggested to Emma, "With Bob's protection, of course. I'll call the golem after dinner."

"I don't want to…" she replied.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because you guys are awesome. You're like the parents I wish I had!" Emma answered. A long time ago, Emma's parents both died in a mob attack. We were both babies at the time, and her aunt had decided to take care of her. It was very sad, but Emma didn't remember them much because she had been so young.

"Well, tell you what-you can spend the night here with us. David can make you a bed." Mom said, clearly pleased by Emma's compliment.

"Maria, are you sure?" Dad said.

"Yes, I'll just explain everything to Susan tomorrow morning." Mom replied to him.

"Yay! Emma's staying over!" I cheered. It had been so long since Emma stayed over.

"It's a slumber party!" Emma cheered. I couldn't even remember when the last time she had stayed over was, probably at least a thousand years ago. My mom and dad both looked at each other with strange looks on their faces, as if they were having some kind of silent conversation, before looking back at us.

"Well, it looks like you two are done with your dinner." Mom noted and my heart skipped a beat. _Uh oh… _I thought. "Time to go to bed."

"Aww what!? Noooo!" I whined, "I don't wanna go to bed!"

"Me neither!" cried Emma, "I just got here!"

"Both of you, go to bed." Mom ordered sternly. "It is very late, and you don't want the monsters to come get you… You can stay up, but only until midnight." We shut up, got out of our seats, and headed into my room, closing the spruce doors.

My room was a five-by-five one with a ceiling three blocks up. The whole room was faintly lit up by a redstone torch-which acted as my night-light. My room had a chest where I kept the stuffed mob heads I used to sleep with, as well as another chest containing stuff I took home with me. I had a furnace in the room, though I didn't use it. There was also a crafting table in case I wanted to make anything.

_**Joseph's POV**_

As David and his friend went to his room for their slumber party, I turned to look at my wife. Her face was troubled, and I knew what she was gonna say. I frowned.

"Joseph, I think it's time we talked about the dreams I've been having." she said.

"I highly doubt they're anything dangerous. They're just dreams." I replied.

"Joseph, this is serious. If what I saw was real, Blockfield could be in serious trouble!" she explained.

"Maria, dreams are only visions of what your mind sees from an emotional perspective. They aren't real." I informed her.

"I hope they are just dreams. After all, they're just kids." she sighed.

"Let's ignore it, we've got more important things to focus on." I pointed out.

"But the rumors of a madman with a powerful monster going around attacking other towns. Do you think your brother could be behind-"

"That's enough." I said sternly. I didn't want to talk about my brother. Us knights had heard the rumors, and they seemed somewhat credible as we had lost connection with one of our neighboring villages, but I didn't want to think my brother had anything to do with it.

"But Joseph-"

"I said that's enough. You know I don't like to talk about him." I reminded. She sighed and began to head to the bedroom.

"We need to talk about this sometime. Sooner is better than later." she said before she left. I stood, thinking to myself.

**_David's POV_**

I was pressing the side of my head against the door, struggling to hear any more of their conversation, but it was silent.

"What're you listening to?" Emma suddenly asked.

"I'm trying to hear what Mom and Dad are talking about." I answered, and she yawned.

"Well, I'm a bit tired. It's midnight already. Nighttime sure flies by, doesn't it? Go ahead and make that bed, could you?" I couldn't hear them talking anymore-they must have gone to bed. I frowned, I had barely been able to hear any of whatever they were talking about.

I lifted my head away from the door and turned to look at my clock above the door. Sure enough, it was midnight. Then I went towards the chest that sat by the window. Heading over and opening the chest, I asked her what color bed she had wanted.

"Could you do a light blue? That's my favorite color!" she requested.

"Sure!" I smiled as I pulled out three light blue wool blocks and three oak wood planks. I took them over to the crafting table right next to the chest and placed them in their proper slots. The wool and wood shot together and disappeared, replaced by a portable bed with light blue blankets and the standard white pillow. I picked it up and went over and placed it one block from my own, so it was close enough to feel like a slumber party but not close enough to feel weirdly close.

"Thank you!" Emma lunged into her newly-made bed and engulfed herself in its large bright blue sheets. I felt myself yawn and realized how exhausted I was. I crawled into my own bed and snuggled up inside the blankets.

"Well, good night…" was the last thing I heard her say before the tiniest of light breathing replaced it, implying that she had fallen asleep. I looked up at the smooth stone ceiling, listening to the faint moaning of the green people of the night. An occasional rattling of bones and hiss of a spider would also be heard, but thankfully I was in here. And they were out there. I also heard the heavy metal thuds of Bob the iron golem walking by our house, which comforted me. And within seconds, I drifted off into sub-consciousness.

_I dreamed I was running through darkness, being chased by something that I couldn't see. I couldn't see anything about my surroundings, I couldn't even see what I was running across. But one thing was clear to me-if I stopped running for even one second, I was dead. Laughter echoed throughout the place, and I heard a voice._

"_You fool. There is nothing _you_ can do to save this world. You are just a kid!" The source of the voice sounded broken, like they weren't all there. I could tell that the voice belonged to a man. "A young little pipsqueak who has been sheltered all his life from the cold and dark reality of this world!" I didn't respond to the voice-I didn't want to use the energy on anything other than fleeing from whatever was after me._

"_Our world is dying! All of mankind-all of _US_-have ruined it! The Creator has forsaken us all-he left us for dead centuries ago!" the voice boomed. What was he talking about? What creator? "It didn't have to come to this! People have become so twisted-so corrupted in their own desires-in their own ways of life, that now the only solution is to reset it all! I have dedicated my life to my research, and I am perhaps the only person alive who knows the history of our world-the full history! It's disgraceful!"_

"_Who are you!?" I cried, exhaustion growing heavily in my limbs._

"_Who am I?" the voice repeated_ _and I knew it wasn't a sane person who was speaking, "I am the one who will cleanse the world of the filth that covers it! I will be the one to save the Overworld! I am Lucian, and I am the hero that the Overworld has been waiting for!" the voice shouted._

"_But, I cannot do this on my own. I need an apprentice who will carry my legacy. And I give you a choice to think about for when we meet. You cannot save this world, but you can create a new one! Will you do the right thing and help me rebuild this world from its ashes? Or will you become just another one of _them_-another one of the people that believe that every single thing in this world is flowers and sunshine and that everything will resolve itself? Consider this choice wisely, but if you do not want to restore our world, then you will meet the instrument of your destruction along with everyone else!"_

_Suddenly, I heard a deafening hiss as a creature flew over me and settled somewhere in front of me. I couldn't see it until a glowing pair of pure white eyes appeared, glaring directly at me. I could see the white glow of a twisted smile on the monster's face. Then, two more faces with the same eyes and smile appeared on the sides of the first. Fear overtook my body and I began to tremble. The glowing eyes and mouth rose several blocks into the air and a bursting scream exploded in my face. I couldn't move-I was frozen in terror._

_I had only started to see a dark skeletal frame around the features before the voice let out a crazed yell and the dark skeletal monster began to fire its heads at me. I let out a scream of terror as I covered my eyes. Then, the dream faded away._

I shot up from my bed, gasping for breath. I was in a puddle of my own sweat. My heart was pounding. Looking around the room, I began to calm down after realizing it was just a dream. I noticed Emma in her own bed, sleeping away. I heard a weird noise coming from outside, something that sounded like _bleep-bloop_. Getting out of my bed, I headed for the window and took a look.

A tall black figure stood a few blocks away from the house, with purple particles floating around it. I had never seen any creatures quite like it. I pressed my face against the glass to get a better look. The creature seemed to be holding a block of dirt, with grass growing on top of the brown soil. It was very hard to see in the dark landscape, but the tall thing seemed to be facing away.

Suddenly, the creature turned around and glared at me with purple eyes and open jaws lined with teeth. I lost my footing and fell back on the ground.

Once I got back to my feet, I ran back to the window. The creepy creature was gone. It was as though it had vanished into thin air. Seeing its purple eyes had filled me with dread. They looked menacing and calculating.

Feeling very tired once again, I crawled back into bed and tried to go back to sleep. It was difficult with the nightmare I just had and seeing that mysterious creature, but after a few moments, I drifted off to sleep again.

_I couldn't see or feel anything. I could only hear two voices talking in the darkness._

'_One would think that after _its_ destruction, the land would finally be free from danger…' one of the voices said. They didn't sound anything like the speaker of my previous dream had. They sounded ancient and wise beyond comparison. I didn't know what they were talking about._

'_Unfortunately, that won't be the case this time…' said the other._

'_You are right, 'tis indeed a troubled land in need for heroes…'_

'_And it was already so fortunate to have so many throughout the ages… so long ago…'_

'_Yes, yes, but we are repeating ourselves…'_

'_It must be said that it was very much unexpected for the new hero… to be such a young child…'_

'_Yes, the universe has certainly chosen the unlikeliest of humans…'_

'_But can he save the world? How can a simple kid stop this great threat?'_

'_By believing in his strengths… After all, everything he needs is already within him…'_

'_And even if others may try to make them feel helpless, he still has yet to know the true value he holds in the universe…'_

'_It is quite beautiful, the innocence of childhood…'_

'_Yes, it is, and he will soon embark on a path that few others will understand…'_

'_Yes, for now, let us watch our young hero go through the challenges of life…' The voices faded away, and the dream vanished._

I opened my eyes and saw sunlight streaming through the window. Getting out of my bed, I loudly yawned and stretched. I noticed that Emma was gone. I groaned and stumbled out my door.

My parents were both in the dining room serving freshly crafted bread. Emma sat on a stair block, talking to them as she grabbed a loaf.

"Hey." I started as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Mom and Dad glanced at me.

"Good morning, dear. Did you have a good night sleep?" Mom asked.

"I wish…" I mumbled. At this, Emma turned around and stared at me.

"Did you have a nightmare or something?" she asked. "You look weird."

"Yeah, it was scary. You?" I questioned.

"No…" she muttered. Mom's humming and Dad's reading of the daily newspaper told me that they weren't really listening. I went over and sat down at the table. Taking a loaf of bread, I gobbled the whole thing down. I hadn't even realized how hungry I was, which was weird-considering that last night's dinner had been pretty filling. I wondered if me sprinting in my dream last night had anything to do with it. Probably not.

"So, what're you two going to do today?" Mom asked, "Anything fun?"

"Actually, I'm going to check out the new school." Emma said, "I just can't wait until school starts." _Uh oh…_ I thought in my head.

"I'm sure David would like to go as well." Mom hummed, "He is looking forward to going to the new school as much as you."

"Yeah, but we can go tomorrow, on the first day of school." I pointed out.

"But I wanna see what the school looks like before everyone else." Emma argued. "I wanna get to know the layout, and maybe meet the teacher."

"Emma," I gritted my teeth, "we really don't want to go there today…"

"Why not?" she complained, "You never want to go to the school. I just don't understand why."

"David, if Emma wants to go, it'd be polite to be a gentleman and escort her." Mom pointed out. Dad was still reading his newspaper, completely unaware. "And plus, it'd be a good idea to become familiar with the place before school starts."

"But-" I stopped when Mom gave me a silent but dangerous look. I got the feeling that if I kept it up, she was gonna ground me or do something else unforgivable. "Okay…" I resigned.

"Yay!" Emma cheered, then jumped out of her seat and ran over to the door. "Come on!" With a groan, I followed her.

**Well, hello there. I see that you must be at least a little bit interested if you've gotten this far *insert doge face* Well, hi, I'm the writer of this series. And I gotta say, I put a lot of work into this series that you are currently reading. About five years(at the time of writing this) of work. Which is funny, because I haven't even written the entire series after all that time. No, it's because all that time went into another book series that eventually didn't work out, as well as working out the entire timeline for this world called Minecraftia. And all throughout that time, I've come up with a ton of book series that I could write about, but haven't decided on if I'm going to or not. This story is part of a multi-part series that will show our hero as he grows into the role he is destined to fulfill, so keep in mind as you read that this story is going to require some serious dedication if you want to see it through to the end. But, in my personal opinion, it will be worth it if you become invested in this story.**


	3. The Bad Bats

**Fun Fact: Minecraftians do not have fingers, and when pointing, they use their entire arm. If one has an itch, they'll use the corner of their blocky hand to satisfy that itch.**

I followed Emma through the village, greeting the villagers that were out. Emma and I walked by tons of houses. I remember when my mom had told me about a time when villages were so much smaller long ago. Apparently, villages used to be small and more primitive, rarely having more than a dozen houses and rarely having iron golems to protect them. They were constantly attacked by zombies, until they began to build more houses, and iron golems came from far-away lands to protect them. At least, that was what my mom had told me.

Soon, we arrived by the school. The school was a huge building nearly twice the size of my house. It was made of wooden oak planks, with oak log blocks on the corners like pillars, and had a flat roof like any other house. Being here, I felt a sense of dread. I wanted to do everything I could to avoid this place. Because I knew _they_ were here.

"Let's just go inside and meet the teacher," I said, "then leave."

"What're you talking about? We just got here!" Emma said gleefully. She went over to the oak doors and opened one. I followed her inside.

The interior of the school was pitch black, which shocked me. Normally, buildings were lit up, even when no one was in them. This was to prevent monsters from coming. Fortunately, I couldn't hear any of the monsters. The building's inside was a hallway with two oak doors and one open doorway-which led to the bathrooms. Emma skipped across the hall and opened the door of one room, then frowned and opened the door to another. I took a look through the first, but couldn't see anyone in the darkness.

"Why isn't anyone here?" Emma mumbled.

"Maybe they left early." I suggested, a growing suspicion in my mind. The new teacher was supposed to be here planning out how the school system would work here with the new principle. Both of them had supposedly come from out of town. "Look-let's just go. This place is giving me the creeps." I shivered. Did I mention that I was afraid of the dark?

"Alright…" she groaned and we left the building. We were just about to leave the school premises when a mocking voice called out to us.

"Well, where do you think you losers are going?" I stiffened. I couldn't believe my luck-just when we were _about_ to be safe, trouble came and found us at last.

"Oh great, it's the Bad Bats…" Emma growled as we turned around. Sure enough, standing by the right corner of the school were the village bullies: Michael, Jack, and Drake-who was the leader of the three. They wore matching leather jackets with the image of a bat's face imprinted on them. Together, they were the _Bad Bats_, a group of bullies that picked on other kids-me in particular.

"What are you losers doing on our turf?" Drake asked, his voice filled with smug hostility. I tightened my jaw.

"We were just leaving…" I answered, trying to look tough.

"No, you dorks weren't!" Michael grinned.

"Yes, we were." I repeated sternly, then grasped Emma's hand and began to walk away, pulling her with me. Suddenly, we ran into a tall hulking figure that stood in our way. He was a large kid that looked like he could've been around twelve, yet was almost the size of an adult. He was built like a cow-a huge muscular cow that towered over us. He grunted and slammed his massive fists together.

"You're not going anywhere." Drake laughed. I felt sweat beginning to form around my face. I began thinking hard for a way out of this situation.

"I see you have a new grunt." Emma growled.

"Heck yeah!" he agreed, "You think the teach is the only who came from out of town to live here? Ralph's parents moved in from TN-Town yesterday. And you know how rough it is there…" I turned back around and glanced at him with an uneasy look.

"Just let us go, Drake. Please." I tried.

"Why are you still holding her hand?" Jack noticed and began to mock, "Is she your girlfriend?"

"What-no!" I shot my hand away from Emma, feeling my face flush red with embarrassment. The others began laughing.

"David has a girlfriend! David has a girlfriend!" Michael mocked.

"Shut up!" I stammered, "Emma is not my girlfriend!" Even the big cow-man behind us started to laugh, though it sounded more like howling. I was starting to panic internally, I wanted to get out of this situation immediately, but I couldn't see how.

"David and Emily sittin' in a tree…" Jack started, and the rest of the kids joined in. "_K. i. s. s. i. n. g_!"

"Hey, jerks!" Emma yelled, an angry look planted firmly across her face, "We are not boyfriend and girlfriend! But of course, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between anything-much less between being friends and being in love-because you're _stupid_!" Suddenly, they all stopped laughing and stared at her.

"I'm sorry," Drake started, "at least I don't sleep with a toy creeper head like a little baby!" Everyone gasped in mock surprise. I realized it was about to get heated. Emma always felt nervous over telling others about her items.

"You jerk!" Emma surged forward, but I grabbed her just in time. "Take that back! TAKE THAT BACK!" she screamed furiously.

"Can't. Wouldn't." he jeered. She struggled even harder.

"Emma, as much as I would like for you to kick his butt," I muttered to her, "we're still outmatched."

"Let go of me, David!" she screamed murderously, "I'm gonna KILL him!" At this, the Bad Bats continued to laugh at us. Drake gave us a smug grin.

"Look at David-holding back his girlfriend! How cute!" he mocked.

"Shut up!" I yelled. I was so angry at him for making Emma act this way, and for continuing to taunt us even after this.

"You're pathetic. Why don't you go back to your pigs? Who knows, maybe someday you'll turn into one. Then, you can finally live like them!" Jack chuckled.

"You're the pathetic ones!" I shouted, but couldn't think of a good comeback.

"Ha! You're so weak!" Drake taunted, "I can't wait for tomorrow when school starts. I'm gonna wipe the floor with you in training!" He gave us another smug grin, then looked over at his goons. "Come on guys, let's leave these losers." he ordered and they walked away, still laughing. Emma began to calm down, but glared at them hatefully.

"Sorry about that, David." she said, "About… you know… getting angry…"

"It's fine. No need to apologize. I hate them too." I assured, eyeing them down as they left, laughing to themselves.

"I didn't know we were going to have training on the first day." she noted.

"Me neither."

"What're we going to do now? Drake with a sword on his own is already a bad thing, but he's probably going to target you."

"I don't know what to do…" I murmured. How could Drake have known about sword training? I was scared now. If we really were going to train with swords tomorrow, I didn't trust Drake to play without hurting anyone, especially me. Suddenly, an idea came up. "Wait, we should train on our own, so we can be ready for tomorrow." I said.

"Wait-what?" Emma gasped, "You mean… with like, _real_ swords?" I nodded. "David, you know your parents are going to kill you if you use a sword for any reason other than training in school! And Auntie's gonna kill me if I do, too!"

"Come on, they won't find out! Just train with me for a little bit?" I pleaded. She seemed conflicted for a minute before nodding.

"Okay. But we have to find someplace where they won't find us. Follow me-I know a place." she said and began to march towards the border of the village.

"Wait-you want to _leave_ the village?" I gasped. Emma looked back at me with a cheerful smile on her face.

"Of course!"

"But, you know that's where the… monsters… live, right?" I pointed out, remembering the black creature from last night.

"Only at night. Let's go!" she cheered, leaving the village. I sighed and followed her.


	4. Training in the Woods

**Fun Fact: Time in Minecraftia is virtually uncountable. The closest thing humans have to telling the time are their clocks and the sun and moon. They do not have units of time covering time short-term and instead go by perspective time, often using 'moments' as their way of determining how time has passed. They do, however, have units of time covering larger points of time, such as day, week, month, year, decade, and century.**

"Here we are!" Emma smiled. I looked around, we were in a pretty dense oak forest. I could hear the barking of nearby wolves. It had taken us what felt like hours of walking across the grassy hills and swimming across rivers.

"What is this place?" I asked as a wolf walked up to us.

"This is my happy place!" Emma explained with joy, "Whenever I get upset, I come here!" I didn't get how a place as crowded and dark as this could appeal to Emma, but I guess everyone had their thing. She ran over to the wolf, "I _love_ these guys!" she laughed as she hugged the wolf, and it gave her a lick on the cheek. I noticed the wolf wasn't wearing a collar, which meant it was wild. But then why was it licking her so affectionately? _Duh, it's because she is always so joyful,_ I realized, _who wouldn't want to be a part of that?_ The Bad Bats clearly didn't, I was sure of that…

In truth, Emma was one of the only people I had warmed up to in the village. I didn't normally play with others, because I was so nervous about not being treated kindly by them. I was afraid of people picking on me like the Bad Bats always did. But Emma managed to convince me to open up a little to be friends with her.

"I think the wolves come from a nearby taiga forest." she pointed out as she let go of the wolf. It scampered off into the woods and disappeared from sight.

"Cool." I said.

"Now, uh…" Emma looked at me, "Do you have any swords?"

"Um… I thought you had some…" I replied.

"Now, why would I have swords with me?" Emma questioned, her hands on her waist and head slightly tilted in that obnoxious position. "You were the one that wanted to go out and train in the first place." I scratched my head and looked down, feeling embarrassed for being dumb.

"Good point…" I muttered as I looked around, then eyed an oak tree. Often, I would see some of the adult villagers march to the woods and punch trees until they broke apart into wood blocks. "How about we break this tree and use its wood for swords?" I suggested, pointing to a nearby tree in front of me.

"Good idea!" Emma agreed. I ran over to the tree and began to punch it.

"Ow!" I cried in pain as I held my hand. It hurt against the rough bark.

"Let me help you!" she decided and ran over to the tree. We started to beat the tree with our fists and tiny cracks began appearing in the wooden surface.

Within moments, the block broke down into a tinier and more portable block. I picked it up and we continued to slam our fists into the block above, breaking it in a couple more seconds. We landed blow after blow on the block above that one until it broke as well. We couldn't reach any blocks higher than that, so we stopped, leaving the last block all by itself, aside from its fellow leaves. Emma went and sat on the bottom log of the tree.

I broke down the logs into wooden planks first, then fashioned the planks into a crafting table. Setting the crafting table down on the ground, I turned two planks into four sticks. I had never made a sword before, but I'd seen Dad make one at some point, and I had been able to memorize the crafting recipe. I got out more wood planks and organized them in the correct order.

All of a sudden, the wooden objects shot together, and a wooden sword replaced them. Proud that I had gotten it right away, I smiled and picked the sword up and held it high, the way the hero always does in the books I've read.

"Nice! I just made a wooden sword!" I exclaimed. Emma cheered.

"Make mine, make mine!" she insisted excitedly.

"Okay." I turned back to the crafting table and placed the stick and wooden planks down in the same spots. They shot together and made a second wooden sword. "Here you go!" I grinned as I brought the weapon over to her.

"Wow, so cool!" she awed as she took it. She began to swing it around, "I've never actually held a real sword!"

"Whoa, careful there!" I warned as I ducked under a swing.

"Oops, sorry." she apologized with a smirk, so I knew she wasn't sincere.

"Wanna start?" I asked, shaking my sword.

"Sure, let's go." she said as she jumped off the log and held her sword in front of her.

"Let's try not to hurt each other." I reminded, "Remember, my parents don't know we're doing this, and neither does your aunt."

"Okay." she agreed.

Suddenly, she swung her sword at me. Knowing only the most basic of defensive sword-fighting, I turned my sword and hers glanced off the flat part of mine. I then swung back at her, but she backed away. Then, she began to swing wildly, her sword flailing around and getting closer. I backed away nervously.

"Hey, that's not fair!" I cried, "You can't swing wildly like that!"

"Yeah I can!" she smiled and continued to come closer. I held my own sword up and tried not to get hit. Starting to get uneasy, I felt sweat forming on me. I had no way to defend against her cheap swinging.

Suddenly, it felt as if I was struck with an energy of some kind. I yelled, spinning with great speed with my sword out, slashing at the air. A surprised yelp made me stop and I looked at Emma. She was speechless, her mouth hanging open in shock. Her sword was on the ground, as though I had disarmed her. Immediately, whatever had invigorated me had vanished, just as suddenly as it had appeared.

"How did you _do_ that?!" she gasped.

"I… don't know…" I stammered and looked down at my sword with a new form of respect.

"Let's go again! I wanna see you do whatever you just did again!" she cheered as she picked up her sword.

"Okay." I agreed and held my own up.

She swung her sword at me and I ducked, missing by a few pixels. I retaliated with a slash of my own, but she blocked it at the last second. Then, she began to swing wildly again.

"Aw, come on! Emma!" I protested and saw her grin. I backed away from her again, hoping whatever had helped me before would help me again.

After several moments of backing away from Emma's frenzy swinging, I realized that it wasn't coming. _Maybe I can redo what I did?_ I thought, then readied my sword. I began to spin, using my sword to attack. After a second, I started to lose my balance, and soon fell to the ground, my head spinning. Emma stopped swinging and helped me to my feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, just a bit dizzy…" I assured, seeing the forest rolling.

"You didn't do it this time," she pointed out, "I mean, you did, but you fell over."

"Yeah…" I felt tired out and was panting heavily. After a moment of silence, she spoke again.

"We should probably get home." Emma reminded, "I really don't want Auntie to look for me." That was when we both heard a hiss somewhere around us. "What was that?" I couldn't tell what time it was very easily, because we were in a very dense forest biome, but the woods seemed to a lot darker than I remembered. A horrible thought came to mind and I was filled with a sense of dread.

"Emma… do you have your clock?" I asked, trying not to let the fear in my voice show. She looked through her pockets.

"Um… I think so… Ah, yes! Here it is!" She pulled out the clock and it was almost completely dark, with the moon out. "Oh no…" she muttered. My fears had been confirmed.

"We have to get out of this forest!" I said, "And we have to get back home!" My biggest fear was that we would run into whatever that thing was outside my window last night.

"Agreed!" replied Emma. I turned around and a blur of black and red slammed into me, taking me down to the ground with it. I lost my breath for a second as the heavy thing hit me before being able to register what was happening. I got a good look at the creature and gasped when I realized it was a spider. I began to scream out in terror, the spider was even larger than me! Its eight long legs were wrapped around my body, trapping me within its grasp. The spider hissed angrily as it tried to bite my face. I heard a somewhat shrill cry and the spider was knocked off. Emma stood above me and pulled me up. I was shaking.

The spider was glaring at us, hatred filling its redstone-red eyes. It was almost as tall as us and was very fat.

It lunged at Emma, and I slammed my sword into its face, knocking it back. The spider hissed as it eyed me down, and pounced. This time, it was Emma's turn to strike it with her sword and the spider flashed red before exploding into dust.

"Let's go!" Emma said as she began to run one way through the forest, "Follow me-I know the way back!" I started to follow her, but quickly looked back at where the spider had died.

Where we killed the spider, a single spider eye and a string had dropped. The spider eye looked gross, but I took it anyways, along with the string. If we made it out of this forest, we could brag to the other kids about how we killed a spider. Then, I gasped in horror as I realized we still had to go home.

"Oh no-Mom and Dad are going to _kill_ me!" I cried as I followed Emma.

"Let's focus on the monsters that actually _want_ to kill us!" Emma pointed out.

Suddenly, a zombie appeared from a tree in front of her and stumbled closer, moaning and groaning in a dead voice. She cried out in fear, covering her face. I ran over to the zombie, slashing at it. It snarled in pain and turned red briefly, then limped towards me. Suddenly aware of the danger I was in, I froze in terror. The zombie got closer and closer, until Emma swung her sword at its legs, knocking it off its feet and forcing it to fall face-first on the ground.

"Go, go, go!" she yelled as the zombie got back up. We both took off. My heart was pounding out of my chest. Soon, we made it out of the forest.

I could see the river that was next to our village. Home was close, but sure enough, it was night. Getting home would be a lot tougher than it seemed. There were dozens of monsters roaming the landscape.

"Let's go-we'll meet each other back at the village!" Emma shouted and ran towards the village.

"Emma, wait!" I hollered, but she was already too far away to hear me. _Why, Emma?_ I mentally scolded. Why did she have to be so reckless?!

All of a sudden, I felt something enter my right arm, followed by a wave of great pain. I cried out and tears began to form in my eyes. I looked down and saw it had been an arrow. I tried hard not to collapse from the pain and glanced at the source. It was a skeleton holding up a bow. It was on a hill, and was barely visible among all the grass. The skeleton aimed another arrow at me and I yelled, making a mad dash for the village.

I lost track of Emma; I was too busy trying to avoid all the monsters. A zombie limped towards me, and I slid across the ground between its legs, and managed to avoid its flailing arms. A spider lunged at me, but just before it slammed into me, an arrow came from the right and pierced into the monster and it was knocked away. I looked to the right and saw a skeleton ready another arrow and fire. The arrow flew towards me, but I managed to duck under the flying projectile just in time. I continued to sprint away.

As soon as I made it to the edge of the river, I froze-staring at the water with fear. I had always had a fear of large bodies of water. I was always afraid of something pulling me under and making me drown. But as soon as I looked back, I noticed that the mobs were catching up. I knew I was running out of options.

After several dangerously long moments of trying to think of some other way I could go back to the village, a large squid swam by the shore and eyed me curiously. It was a block in the water, with its side partially out of the water. Another arrow flew down at me and landed in the water. I looked back and saw three skeletons in shooting range, two of them with arrows ready. Just then, the squid tucked its tentacles in, and I made a split-second decision. I immediately jumped onto its body and grabbed on just as it pushed its tentacles out and shot forward. I tried desperately to hold on, but it was tough because its body was slippery.

As we were moving away from the coast and into open water, I tried as hard as I could to look away from the water. I was terrified of being attacked by those water monsters. Then, I felt an arrow enter my backside, and I yelled in pain, looking back at the monsters. We were now far enough from them that the skeletons and zombies were trying to cross the lake, but they only managed to sink through the water, disappearing from sight.

After a few moments, the squid bumped into the coast and I let go of it. I climbed out of the river and looked back at it.

"Thank you!" I said, shaking and sweating. The squid just swam back down deeper into the lake, but seemed to give me a final look before it disappeared into the blue depths.

I climbed up the hill and saw the village border a few dozen blocks away. Running with all my might, I ran past all the tall grass.

Suddenly, I ran into a creature whose body felt crunchy, like leaves. Looking up nervously, one of the first things I could make out was a huge dark frown on its face, along with pitch-black eyes. The creature was completely green-a lighter shade of green than a zombie, and it towered above me. The green monster had no arms, but had four small legs. It looked down at me and my heart froze. Then, it sizzled and swelled and blinked white. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew it wasn't good. So, I turned and ran.

Instantly, a deafening _boom_ sounded and a blast knocked me down to the ground, landing flat on my face. My leg exploded with pain. I spat out dirt and grass. Looking back, I noticed the creature was gone, but where it had been was a giant crater that had been blown into the surface. It was as if that thing had just… exploded… Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice calling out from the village.

"David!?" It was my mom's voice, and she sounded on the verge of panic.

"MOM!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"David!" She showed up from the front of the nearest building. "Where were you!? It's nighttime!"

Suddenly, I heard a cry from behind. I looked back and saw Emma a dozen blocks back. She was on the ground-for some reason without her sword-as three zombies stumbled towards her. I immediately saw what appeared to be a broken brown tip of her sword buried in one of the zombies' leg.

"EMMA!" I yelled, and tried to get to my feet. My arms and legs ached with pain, but I started to run to her.

"David, get back here this instant!" Mom ordered and I hesitated.

"I can't!" I hollered.

"David-you _will_ get back here!" she screamed. The zombies got closer to Emma.

"I have to save Emma!" I yelled desperately and ran back to my friend as fast as I could. I had to defend her, she was one of my best friends!

"What do you mean? DAVID!" I ignored her and brought out my wooden sword, swinging away at one zombie. The green creature turned to face me. I swung my sword at the second zombie, bringing its attention to me and away from Emma. I glanced at her.

"Emma! Run back to the village!" I yelled. Fear covered her face, but she nodded, got up, and sprinted to the village. I attacked the third zombie, which now focused on me as well. Now, I had three zombies ready to kill me.

One of the zombies swung its arms at me and I ducked under it. I stabbed with my sword. It flashed in red. Another zombie swung its arms as well, and I backed away before slashing my sword down against the zombie's chest. It blinked red and half of my sword broke off, landing on the ground and exploding into smoke. My other half exploded into smoke as well. My one weapon had broken.

I turned to run towards the village, but stopped when I saw a dark figure in the way. Looking up at the creature, I realized with horror that it was the same monster that I had seen last night. The being was as dark as the night sky, and towered above even the zombies! It looked down at me, then shouted in a terrifying, distorted voice. I stumbled back, then fell on my back. The monster glared down at me with rage-so much that it was actually trembling! I watched in terror as it took a slow, suspenseful step towards me, then another.

Suddenly, I heard an angry yell, and my mom appeared above me, swinging a light-grey sword at it. The monster blinked red, then disappeared in a cloud of purple particles.

"Stay away from my son!" Mom growled. Then, she yanked me off the ground.

"David…" she murmured in a low tone, "You're in so much trouble. Now go. Go back to the village right now." I didn't hesitate and sprinted towards the village as fast as I could.

Upon crossing into home territory, I looked for Emma. She was gone, hopefully safe. I glanced at Mom as she killed the last of the three zombies.

All of a sudden, the black monster reappeared right next to Mom and she slashed at it, knocking it back. Then, she slashed at it again, and it disappeared once more. The dark monster appeared right behind her and raised its fist.

"Mom, behind you!" I cried, and she looked back just as the creature struck her in the shoulder. Mom flashed bright red and was knocked back, but then slashed her sword into the monster's side. The creature let out a distorted howl of defeat as it turned to smoke. Mom put her sword away and stumbled towards me, holding on to her shoulder.

"Go back to the house, now!" she ordered.

"Mom, are you okay-"

"I said go back to the house!" she interrupted. I reluctantly obeyed and ran back for the house, Mom following close behind. _I'm gonna get it now…_ I thought.

Once we got back to the house, Mom practically shoved me through the door. Dad came in with us, after he saw that Mom had found me. The look on his face when he first saw me made me regret everything that had happened.

"David! Where were you!?" he shouted as he shut the door behind us. I saw our cat, Paws, instantly wake up from his nap on the furnace, look at us, and jumped down to run off to a more quiet place to sleep. I envied him.

"He was outside the village." Mom answered.

"What!?" Dad stammered in horror, "David, you _know_ not to leave the village!"

"Yes, you and Emma could have died!" Mom agreed.

"You wanted me to leave Emma to die!" I protested. Dad's eyes widened with shock and he looked at Mom with disbelief.

"Is that true?" Mom looked back at him with shock.

"What-_no!_ I had no idea Emma was even with him! I didn't even see her until David started attacking the zombies that were after her!" she explained, outraged.

"Wait-David was attacking mobs!?" Dad gasped. Mom nodded.

"With a wooden sword. A wooden sword that broke in his hands." She gazed at me, "David, if you had been away from the village when that sword broke-"

"David, you made it back to the village in time, but only by the stroke of luck!" Dad told me.

"David, do you know what happens to people who stay out after dark? They get caught and killed by the mobs! It's a miracle you and Emma made it back home! Kids as young as you would've been food for the spiders and zombies!" Mom cried, her voice filled with hysteria. I looked down at my feet with guilt. Dad then knelt down beside me and lifted my head up with his hand.

"David, look, let's learn from this. You see, your mother was hurt trying to protect you. She was hurt by-" He looked at her.

"An enderman." Mom finished. Dad gazed at her in shock.

"An enderman!?" he gasped.

"Yes." Dad's face started to shudder, but then he took a deep breath and stopped himself.

"David, I hope you learned a valuable lesson from tonight. Never leave the village without either of us knowing, especially when it's almost night. Now, go to bed."

"But-" I stammered.

"Now!" I reluctantly headed over to my room and went in, closing the door behind me.

I could hear them both arguing outside my room. They were yelling at each other, and it sounded scary-almost as scary as those monsters had been.

The light of the moon shined through my window, giving the room a silvery light. I went over to the window and looked outside at the monsters with newly-realized fear. Mom was right-it _had_ been a miracle that we made it back… For some reason, those monsters wanted to kill us at all costs-even if it had meant killing themselves in the process, as I had seen with that green four-legged monster.

I looked at my arm and saw the arrow that had buried itself into it. I felt tears beginning to build up when I thought of how terrifying everything had been. And then I began to sob. _I could have died..._ my mind thought. I went to my bed and crawled under the sheets, laying on my side. I wanted to go to sleep and just pretend that none of this had ever happened. I wanted everything to be different in the morning, with my parents forgetting about all this.

After about five minutes, I heard my door open and looked up. Mom walked in and shut the door. She went over to my bed and sat on the corner. She didn't look upset anymore.

"Mom, I'm sorry." I apologized, "I'm sorry for worrying you."

"It's okay, dear. I'm not upset." she assured as she looked at the arrow on my arm. "You have no idea how much I was horrified when I saw that arrow in your arm, David." she said, a sad look in her eyes. Then, she grabbed it and yanked it out. I hardly felt a thing, the sharp weapon had already done its pain to me.

"Is there any more of them on you?" she asked. I nodded and turned over to show her the arrow on my back. She grabbed that one and pulled it out as well. "I just wish I knew why you left the village. David, you know that the village is the only safe place for miles." she pointed out.

"I know… it's just that… I'm scared… of the Bad Bats…" I confessed. She blinked.

"The Bad Bats? You mean those kids who pick on others?" I nodded. "What did they do? Did they force you out of the village?" she asked.

"No… but Drake said that he's going to wipe the floor with me in sword training on the first day of school." I explained. "So Emma and I wanted to train so I could prepare." Mom frowned.

"Is that what that was all about?" I nodded again. "Well, David, I don't think you need to worry about that Drake."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously. She smiled knowingly.

"Because you see, your ancestors were great heroes." she explained. "Your great, great, great, great, great, great, great-" She poked my belly every time she said the word _great,_ causing me to giggle.

"I get it, Mom." I smiled.

"-great, great grandfather was a true hero. He saved the world from a dragon, did you know that?"

"No way, he did?" I gasped. Mom nodded.

"Or so they say. He was a great swordsman-perhaps the best of his time." she responded, then added, "Who knows, maybe his gift might've been passed down to you."

"I hope so!" I cheered. It'd be awesome if I could learn to use a sword really well one day. Mom smiled for a moment, then looked down at her lap.

"David, I know I was mad earlier. But I was just angry because I love you." she reminded, "And to be honest, I'm so thankful that you're alive. I was afraid that it would be… just like… Natalie…" she faltered and I remembered.

Natalie had been my older sister. Years ago, she had left the village during the evening to get some sugarcane in that forest. But the next morning, she was just… gone. Supposedly, the entire village had searched for her, but she was never found. People used to say that she was likely despawned, whatever that meant. It all happened when I was just a baby. All I could really remember about her was the warm glow of her smile.

"It's okay…" I comforted, hugging Mom. She sniffled a few times, then wiped her face.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be acting this way in front of you." she scolded herself.

"Don't worry, Mom. I won't ever leave the village again." I promised.

"No, someday you'll have to." Mom replied and rubbed her eyes, "Someday, you're going to grow up, and you're going to want to live on your own. You'll want to move to another village and start a life of your own. Someday… you'll find a girl that you're going to really like, and she'll love you back, and you'll want to raise a family together. I would rather that happen than you staying here to comfort me."

She looked outside. "It's late. You should go to sleep." she said and got up, heading for the door.

"Okay, Mom." I pulled up my sheets. Just before she was out the door, she turned to look back at me.

"First day of school's tomorrow, dear. I hope you behave nicely in front of the new teacher." she said sweetly. I nodded and smiled.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll be good." Mom returned my smile with a grin, then closed the door. I lay in bed, listening to the pattering of walking creatures from outside. I shivered. Thank goodness I had a redstone torch keeping them from appearing in my room. I put my head under the covers and felt myself drift off to sleep.


	5. The Forgotten Knight

_ I dreamed that I was on one of many pale landmasses, hovering in a world as dark as night. Massive purple plant-like things jutted from the porous sickly pale ground, their sprouts branching off in different directions as they rose higher into the dark purple sky. This place scared me-it looked like the last remnants of a doomed world…_

_ As I looked over the frightening landscape, I noticed a towering figure standing behind me. Immediately, one of the first things I noticed about it was its eyes. They were practically as bright as flames and glowed a mix between blue and purple, and I could feel them staring straight into my soul, as if pulling details of my life from it. It looked much taller than myself and taller than even Dad, and appeared ghost-like. The ghostly being wore a heavy layer of unusual silvery armor._

_ The ghostly warrior looked ancient, and its armor was no exception. It was heavily corroded from years of aging. Many pieces were missing, and the armor covering its right shoulder looked badly burned. Its left arm was almost completely stripped of armor-aside from the shoulder plate and the gauntlet covering his hand, and I could see traces of what appeared to be chainmail armor beneath the shoulder plate. Its sword might've at one point been a regular golden sword, but age and constant use made it chipped, slightly bent, and darkened to the point of it looking more like a murky stone sword. It also glowed with a purplish aura. The colors on its shield had been very faded and blurred. The skeleton looked very intimidating and menacing._

_ The knight didn't have any skin on its face-its head was an entire skull wearing a broken-down helmet. Two purplish-blue lights illuminated in the dark eye sockets. I saw with nauseating certainty that a long cut had carved through its skull, stretching from the front of where its cheekbone would've been all the way to the side of its head. It had been hit very hard with a heavy weapon in the side of its head at one point. Even the side of its helmet near the scar was broken, further supporting my suspicion. And on the corner of its skull above its charred armor, it was dark grey as if it had been burned severely. I shuddered._

_ My heart began to pound with fear, and I pulled a wooden sword out from my pockets-which I was both surprised and glad to find there. This being was a skeleton, and skeletons were bad creatures. The scary figure just stared at me with its menacing eyes, and I couldn't tell what it was thinking. I immediately turned and ran from it._

_ Suddenly, the being appeared right in front of me, closer than before. It fixed me with that scary look in its eyes, like it was expecting something from me. I turned and ran again, this time running into a giant purple plant stalk. I got back up and looked back at the ghost-it was looming over me now. It wasn't going to let me leave. I was trapped. Letting out a terrified yell, I desperately swung my wooden sword at the ghostly figure. Suddenly, the skeleton brought its shield out and bashed it against my sword, the force of the blow knocking me back._

_ By the time I knew what had happened, I was lying on the ground, my sword knocked out of my grasp. The monster seemed to have disarmed me faster than my mind could process it._

"_Let me go…" I whimpered on the ground, waiting for it to kill me, "Please..."_

"_This… this is the hero that is expected to defend our homeland?" the ghost muttered in a deep and ancient voice that sounded faint, as though he were speaking in hushed tones, "How come? So small, so frail, and so weak. You will never live to take on the greatest threat to our world if you are predictable and fight with such feebleness!"_

"_What do you want..." I whimpered._

"_Nothing more than for heroes of the new generation to step up and save our home." the ghost boomed, the blue lights in his eye sockets staring straight at me, "The Creator has certainly has left me with a difficult task, training the new hero at such a young age. However, this may not be such a bad idea, as the hero would be very impressionable at this age. Now, get up!" I cautiously did as he said, then ran for my sword, in case the ghost would try anything, though I was starting to think he was not so sinister. But I didn't know what else to think about the spirit._

_ I noticed more details about the specter. He appeared to resemble a skeleton wearing full iron armor, except his armor was a lot more beat up, and he was taller than a normal skeleton. The armor was an unusual shade of silver-not the typical iron armor that I sometimes saw my dad wear. It looked custom-made. He also held a longer-than-usual battered golden sword, along with a large shield designed with a _X_-pattern that separated four colors._

_One part of the shield was colored in light-blue, like the color of a shiny diamond; another part was in the color of light-green like a sparkling emerald; a third was filled in white like an iron ingot; and a fourth was completely red, similar to the color of redstone. The lines that separated the four colors was pitch-black, which may have resembled coal. A big golden symbol that appeared to be in a shape similar to the letter _C_ covered the four colors, and an outline the color of lapis was on the shield's borders. It seemed as though all the colors of his shield were based off of ores._

_Light-blue, bright-green, white, red, dark-blue-I tried to think of what made those colors so significant, but I couldn't come up with an answer at the moment. I was convinced most of them went together, but had no idea about the black or the yellow or its shape._

"_You had a very dangerous night out in the woods. You shouldn't have left the village so late." the spectral ghost scolded. "For you see, you have a responsibility very few have ever had to carry. If you were to perish out in those woods, then the world would have been doomed, lost to the Great Evil. If you are truly destined to be the one to carry on the legacy of Minecraftia's greatest heroes, then it is up to me to see to it that you are taught to fight as heroes did in the ancient past." the ghost said. It seemed like he wasn't trying to hurt me, but I was still skeptical. How had he known I had been out in the woods? Had he somehow had been there, watching me?_

"_Wh-who are you?" I nervously asked. The ghost regarded me with his two blue eye-lights._

"_I am the spirit of one of such legendary heroes of the long-forgotten past. A long, long time ago, I went by the name of Steve. But that time has long since passed, and now, it is my responsibility to be your mentor so that you can stop the evil forces that will one day rise."_

_He raised his golden sword, "There are many lessons I must teach you. I shall appear before you on various nights to train you the ways of the sword. On occasion, depending on your situation during the daytime, I shall help you overcome your challenges with a technique no longer taught by combat experts of today. We will continue this training for many years to come, so that you can learn to master the art of combat and reach the peak of human fitness."_

_He continued, "As you age, your exercises will only grow more rigorous. But for now, we will hold off on the more intense training. Now, raise your blade, and let us begin." I cautiously held my wooden sword out and he continued._

"_I shall teach you how to fight against the mobs of the night and other humans that may seek harm upon you." He raised his sword up, then stabbed it into the ground with such force that the entire island shook. Then, he lifted his golden weapon, and I was surprised to see that it looked undamaged, well at least from what he had done. A second later, a very tall dark-grey skeleton burst into existence from a cloud of smoke. It stared at me with empty eye sockets. My heart began to beat with anticipation as it brought out a stone sword._

_The ghost knight whistled and the skeleton turned around and glared at him, raising its sword. I noticed something weird about the dark skeleton, aside from not being the same color as others I had seen. It was even taller than the ghost warrior, and looked charred, like it had come from a world of fire. It was so coal-black that it looked like it was practically made from lumps of coal. The knight went into a battle stance, holding his shield out in front and eyeing the skeleton._

"_This move is called the Circular-Slash." He said, "You observe the enemy, and wait for them to attack. As soon as they begin an attack, preferably a swing downwards or upwards at you, you jump into a roll around the opponent to their backside, jump up in the air, and slash your sword, like so…" The skeleton suddenly swung its sword down onto the skeletal knight, and the specter jumped to the right, going into a side roll and spinning around the skeleton until he was behind it. From there, he jumped up into the air and delivered a powerful strike onto the monster's backbone. It let out a pained rattle as it turned into smoke._

"_The Circular-Slash is one of the many ancient swordsman techniques that was abandoned by mankind after the Great Desolation War ended. It is very effective against mobs such as Wither skeletons, zombie pigmen, Vindicators-any mob that fights up close with a weapon." he explained, "It is most effective on any armor-wearing opponent. There is a weak point where the chestplate and leggings' plating meet, and it is ideal to strike that. Once you do and assuming your aim is true, there's good chance that the enemy's armor will fall apart." The knight looked back at me._

"_Now, you try." he ordered as another black skeleton popped into existence. Nervously, I held my sword up and watched the skeleton as it brought out its sword. My heart beat out in anxiety. The skeleton was several times larger than me. I had no clue how I could possibly kill it._

_ Almost faster than I could react, the monster brought its sword down towards me. I reacted instinctively, holding my sword sideways to block the attack. The stone blade knocked my sword to the ground, and I could hear the ghost's clear dissatisfaction._

"_Wrong…" he scolded. "Do as I say, or you'll never last long enough to be the defender of the Overworld." The skeleton swung its stone sword again, and I jumped back to avoid being hit. I quickly ran in to grab my sword and held it up nervously._

_ Watching the monster more carefully, I waited for it to make another move. Before long, it tried for another slash, and I jumped to the right and landed on the side of my bent arm. I tried to roll, envisioning what the warrior had done. I spun halfway around the skeleton before my form fell apart, and I fell flat on my back onto the ground. I could see the look in the ghost's eyes. He was judging me, trying to see how difficult it would be to instruct me based on this one lesson._

_ I quickly got back up and observed the skeleton again. It stared at me with an empty, hallow look in its eye sockets. I didn't have much experience with how skeletons behaved, but it dawned on me that it could have easily killed me by now. It couldn't have been trying to kill me, otherwise I wouldn't have lasted this long. Perhaps it was trying to get me to do as the ghost knight was ordering. Maybe it was some kind of servant…_

_ The skeleton tried for a side slash, and I ducked beneath the sweep. In reaction, I stabbed my sword at the skeleton, and the tip of my sword hit it and made it flash red. The warrior ghost grunted in dissatisfaction._

"_I've seen enough. You must be shown again." he decided as he marched back up to the skeleton, brushing past me. I stumbled back-he felt physical, like he was actually solid in this dark realm._

"_You must wait for the opponent to make a move and attack." he explained as he held his shield out in front of him and his sword in the air. The massive coal-like skeleton attempted a stab at him with its grey sword, and the knight jumped to the right. I paid more attention to his actions this time. His arms and legs bent as soon as he landed. Instead of using his hands to roll like in a minecart wheel, he used his shoulders instead while ducking his head. He used his hands to hold his sword and shield, spinning them with him. He was basically doing minecart wheels with his equipment in his hands._

_Almost instantly, the time to strike came and his legs kicked into the ground, sending him into the air where he turned towards the tall skeleton and slammed his sword into its unprotected back. As soon as the golden blade bit into the bone, the skeleton let out the clattering of bones and turned into vapor. The warrior ghost looked at me with the blue-purple lights of his eye sockets._

"_Now, you try it." he insisted, and a third huge skeleton appeared and raised its sword. The black skeleton approached me and I waited for it to make a move._

_ The skeleton brought its stone sword down onto me. Immediately, I replayed exactly what the ghost warrior had done, and jumped to the side, bringing my arm and legs closer to my body and tucking in my head, then rolling around the skeleton, and finally, jumping into the air. Once I was airborne, I glanced at the skeleton and slammed my sword into its ribs. It flashed red, but didn't die. I landed on my feet, and nearly fell off-balance, but managed to steady myself. I looked at the spectral knight, who was staring back at me intently. He wanted me to do it again._

_ The skeleton turned back to stare at me with its empty eyes. I waited for it to attack. As soon as it swung its sword again, I repeated what I had done. Once I had successfully pulled off the attack, the skeleton exploded into smoke._

"_Good. At last, you have learned the Circular-Slash skill." the ghost declared, "It seems you indeed have some potential. I truly hope for our world's sake that you have what it takes…" He lowered his sword to his knees and gave me a stern look._

_"These lessons are purely to aid you in your quest to become the hero that mankind needs. A real hero does not use his skills against a fellow human with the intent to kill unless he has no other option. It is important that you learn this. Do you understand?" he said, his tone even more serious than before. I nodded._

"_Very well then. The fate of Minecraftia will one day be your burden to carry, as it was once mine. Even if you do not want to embrace it, this was already decided before your time. It will be up to you to save the world one day. And that is why it is time for me to begin passing down the lessons I have learned in order to make you my successor. Just understand that I know what it is like to be forced with a destiny I did not want. But I eventually accepted it, and I have changed the world greatly because of it. Our lesson is over for now." He raised his sword and moved it in a circular motion until it was aimed down._

_"'Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way.' __Those are the words of a wise politician. It is important that you do not fear mistakes for being mistakes.__" His words echoed in my mind and I thought about what they meant._

_"We shall meet again, young one, in another time." He lifted his sword and shield and placed it on his back and the entire dreamscape faded away._

**Well, there we go. Yes, that is _the_ Steve too. I had a book series that I posted to this website with the very same Steve whose spirit is training David as the main character, and it was planned to be a series that showed his evolution from an ordinary man into the legendary hero he would become, but it eventually went into hiatus halfway into the series, so I decided to write this series with Steve in mind. In case you're curious, the series is called The Struggle For Survival, though I don't recommend you check it out unless you're okay with the usual unsatisfying hiatus. Fortunately, you don't need to read that series to understand his character here. Please tell me what you think of the whole _undead-knight-training-the-main-character-into-a-great-hero _thing(I'm sure some of you zelda fans'll recognize that from Twilight Princess, and yes, I did borrow the concept from there, because I personally love the idea and it's such an underused concept), and what you think of the spectral hero in a review! I absolutely love reading what others think of the stories I write, it can be very encouraging. Even if you don't like something, as long as you're civil about it I would love to read what you have to say. It could help me improve certain characters or scenes in the future!**


	6. The First Day of School

**Fun Fact: A Minecraftian's inventory is something that they can access through their mind. By thinking, they can see into their inventory. However, in order to pull something out of their inventory, they have to reach behind their backs to pull said thing out. This is because there is an interaction point programmed to be directly behind the Minecraftian's hitbox that can only be accessed by themselves.**

I woke up to see Mom standing over my bed and looking down at me with a smile.

"Wake up, David." she chided, and I groaned.

"What's going on…?" I muttered.

"The school is open. It's time to go to school!" she reminded and I glanced out the clock hanging on the item frame on the wall. It was noon.

"Can't I sleep a little longer?" I moaned.

"No, you need to get ready." she pointed out. I crawled out of bed with a grunt.

"Come on, be grateful." Mom said, "You got to sleep all the way to noon-something that I'm surprised you managed to pull off." I didn't respond. I followed my mom out of my room.

"Here, I got you a backpack!" she informed as she rushed to the table, where a large bag was sitting. It looked like a slightly smaller version of a chest, and was more like a vertical slab block. She picked it up and handed it to me. I slung it onto my back and put my arms through the loops.

"I packed you an apple, some bread, a few porkchops, and a dozen wooden planks in case you need to craft something. That should be more than enough." she assured.

"Okay, Mom." I replied, beginning to become fully awake.

"Oh… I'm so happy for you, David!" Mom cheered, "You are going to be a part of the first class ever at this village! This is history!"

"Alright, I get it, Mom." I groaned.

"Anyway, I also packed some cobblestone to help you craft whatever it is you may need cobblestone for. But it's the first day, I don't think they're going to go over anything past wood and leather." she said. "Remember, today they're going to teach you how to use a sword properly. Just don't run off again, okay?"

"I won't, Mom." I promised.

"Good. Now, time to head off. Emma is waiting for you outside." she informed. I got up and we left my room. I looked for my dad, but he wasn't anywhere. He was probably off training with his fellow knights.

"Okay, thanks Mom." I headed to the door and stopped to give her one last smile. She smiled back. I left the house and saw Emma standing on the gravel road near the house. She was wearing her own backpack.

"Good morning!" she said with a grin. I nodded.

"Let's go on ahead." We both began to head in the direction toward the school. Soon, we began talking to pass time.

"So, are you excited for school?" Emma asked, "I am!"

"I guess..." I lied. I probably would've been thrilled to go to school, since we would learn how to fight and craft and build. But, every kid in the village was also coming. And that included the Bad Bats… Emma must've noticed my anxiety, because she looked back at me and continued.

"Hey, don't worry about Drake. He's probably never picked up a sword in his life." she assured. I nodded, but didn't believe it. If he had never used a sword, he wouldn't have threatened me about today and risked ruining his reputation.

"Did your parents yell at you last night?" she asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, it was pretty scary. But my mom got over it. I'm not sure about Dad though…" I replied.

"Auntie was very angry at me. She yelled at me for all the way to midnight. It was so loud that the neighbor, Mr. Philip, knocked at the door and told her he couldn't sleep." she recalled with a tiny grin, "After that, she sent me straight to bed. I think she's still miffed about it."

Something nagged me in the back of my mind. I knew I had a dream last night, but I couldn't remember what it had been about. Something about skeletons… and purple plants? No, I couldn't remember. I could recall too few details.

"Hey, did you have any new dreams last night?" I asked. Emma closed her eyes as though deep in thought.

"Surprisingly, no…" she recalled, "I'm always dreaming, but last time was the first time in like, two weeks that I didn't have any dreams… What about you?"

"I remember being on a massive island hovering in a dark place. There were plants growing everywhere, and I think there were skeletons…" I recounted.

"Maybe there's something to that? Old man Handle always said to listen to your dreams." Emma muttered. We continued to walk in silence for a couple moments, taking the opportunity to eat breakfast as we went along. I got to finish off the apple and was working on the bread when another boy joined us on the walk. It was Andy, my only other friend.

"Emma, you're okay..! That's uh… great." he said nervously. A lot of kids including myself knew that he had a crush on Emma, and it was obvious from the way he acted around her. He was typically very energetic and reckless, but whenever he was around Emma, he always seemed to suddenly become anxious and quiet. Emma, of course, seemed completely oblivious to his nervousness around her.

"Yeah, so I take it you heard about last night?" she questioned, to which he nodded.

"Uh… the entire village has heard." Andy pointed out. "I'm just happy that you're okay…" he then whispered.

"What was that?" Emma asked, not hearing him.

"Nothing!" he flinched. "Anyways, I'm glad you're also okay, David, uh… I'm gonna go ahead now…"

"Alright, see you at the school then." Emma smiled. Andy ran ahead, glancing back briefly to look at Emma before continuing onward. I glanced at Emma, wondering how she couldn't see his obvious attraction to her. She gazed back at me.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing…" I replied, holding back a chuckle.

We arrived at the school. It looked the same as yesterday, except I could tell that it was now fully lit with redstone lamps. We both gazed at each other, then entered the school.

Inside, I saw the teacher standing at an open door. She noticed us and gestured us over. We came over. The teacher wore casual clothes: blue jeans, a purple shirt, and black shoes. She looked normal enough, but had a fierce look in her brown eyes-like she was a warrior.

"Hello." she greeted in a kind voice. "My name is Ms. Sandy. Please find yourselves a seat and sit down." she instructed. We both nodded and went into the classroom.

The class was filled with the other kids of the village. Many were either shouting loudly, throwing things, or running around the room, creating a chaotic scene. With a chill, I noticed Drake and his gang sitting on the far corner of the room-along with their new big grunt, talking among each other and laughing. They didn't seem to see us, which was good. I found two chairs by the front corner. They were either not taken, or they were taken by kids who were running around. Regardless, Emma and I took them over. I set my backpack down on the ground besides me. Ms. Sandy entered the room.

"QUIET!" she bellowed in a surprisingly loud and commanding tone. Within seconds, the commotion died down.

"Now, it seems that everyone is here today." she continued, then muttered to herself, "We still need to set up an earlier time when all students get here…"

"Now then, let's start with an introduction-my name is Ms. Sandy and I recently came here from Diamond Kingdom. As you perhaps know, Diamond Kingdom is full of veteran adventurers and knights. Now, to clear up some confusion, Diamond Kingdom and Diamond City are the same place. They are named differently by different places. Now, I was taught there, and now I will be your teacher. And would anyone like to tell me what we will be learning about for the next several months?" she asked.

"How to poke monsters with a sharp stick?" someone behind us suggested. It sounded like one of the Bad Bats. Some students giggled.

"Well, that is certainly a silly way of putting it." Ms. Sandy replied, smiling at the humorous comment, "But yes, we're learning how to fight. Now, as you all get older, there will be more teachers to have you learn various topics, such as mining, farming, and how redstone works. But for the next couple months, your safety is priority, and so I'm going to teach you each basic combat. And once combat class is over, then you will move on to basic crafting."

She continued, "I would like for every student to shout their name-" The classroom was suddenly filled with a chorus of kids shouting their names and laughing. I could hear the teacher trying to shout over them.

"Settle down. Settle down! SETTLE DOWN!" she demanded, and the students began to quiet down. Ms. Sandy had an overwhelmed look on her face.

"I would like for each student to say their name one at a time once I get to them, so everyone can get to know each others' names." She then looked at the kid sitting on the other side of the room, while looking back at a sheet of paper in her hand.

"Chad!" he shouted.

"Jessie!" the girl behind him shouted.

"Cole!"

"Matt!" Then, Ms. Sandy looked at the second row of students.

"Henry!"

"Tammy!"

"Samantha!"

"Greg!" Ms. Sandy moved on to the third row, two rows away from where I was sitting. I began to get nervous.

"Melanie!"

"Danny!"

"Mark!" It was now the first person in the Bad Bats' turn.

"Michael!" he hollered. She moved on to Emma.

"Emily!" Emma shouted.

"Andrew!"

"Drake!" the leader of the Bad Bats shouted.

"Jack!" Finally, Ms. Sandy moved to me. I felt the eyes of every kid in the village on me. I couldn't mess this up or else everyone would laugh at me…

"David!" I shouted, hoping I didn't sound too nervous. Ms. Sandy looked to the person behind me and I sighed in relief, I didn't make a fool of myself after all. Though, I could see Drake staring at me with an intimidating look in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"Samuel!" announced the kid behind me.

"Miguel!" said another of the Bad Bats. Finally, it was the big cow of the gang's turn.

"Ralph!" the large kid howled.

"Alright, thank you everyone." she said. "Now, without further ado, let's move on with our lesson. There are several different kinds of effective weapons when it comes to combat. The most well-known ones are the axe and the sword. There are also various factors that affect how much damage one weapon can do in a single swing, such as potion effects; what the weapon is made of; how much force you use in a swing; what kind of enchantments is on the weapon; and how much armor an opponent is wearing, if any." she explained.

"Now, what makes each weapon significant is that each can be maneuvered at different speeds depending on their weight and deals various amounts of damage." She paused for a second before continuing. "There's the sword, which can deal a lot of damage, and while it can be swung fairly quickly, the weight of the weapon can eventually knock its wielder off-balance if they attack over and over without steadying themselves. Not to mention that the amount of damage the sword will deal will be much less than if you were to steady yourself. The sword can also deal a good amount of damage."

"And then, there's the axe, which is the hardest to swing around, and does the most damage. Axes are very dangerous and can cause severe injuries, which is why we won't be training with them until later in the year. Axes deal the greatest amount of damage in a single hit, but they're also very heavy and will knock you off-balance if you don't take the time to steady yourself after each hit."

She paused and looked over us. "Can anyone tell me what the fastest weapon you can swing is? Raise your hands and I'll call on you." I heard Andy shift, probably raising his.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Um… you said the sword was?" he guessed. Ms. Sandy nodded and smiled.

"Yes. You're correct." the teacher praised.

"Now, which weapon deals the most damage in a single hit?" Another person raised his hand and she called on him.

"The axe!" Greg answered.

"You're right!" she responded.

"Now, does anyone know what an 'enchantment' is?" she asked. I raised my hand and she called on me.

"My dad told me that an enchantment is kind of like a bonus effect for an item. Like, they can be used to dig through dirt or stone faster, or light bad guys on fire." I answered.

"Exactly. Enchantments are a form of magical energy that cloaks the object with a purple hue. They can truly make or break a battle. And when it comes down to it, there's only one type of weapon that can receive enchantments that are dedicated to melee combat directly from an enchanting table. Can anyone guess what weapon that is?" A boy on the other side of the room raised his hand and Ms. Sandy called on him.

"Is it the sword?" Cole guessed.

"Yes. Now, today we are going to learn how to use swords. If everyone would get up and follow me-" Her voice was drowned out by the sounds of everyone getting up and talking. She walked out the door and we all followed.

We walked out of the school and over to the fields outside of our village. I immediately noticed something different. There were a couple dozen child-sized armor stands placed all around the green field, standing side by side. They all wore small sets of leather armor on them and held wooden swords. The sun was in the middle of the sky, casting its daily light over the world. Ms. Sandy turned around and examined us.

"Now, I want you children to team up into pairs and practice with each other." Quickly, she added, "But first, you must put on the leather armor! Now go."

Everyone headed towards different stands. I went to one and took the armor off, then tried to put the leathery coating on, pushing my body into the pant legs, and then putting my feet into each boot.

"Hey, David?" I turned around to see Emma's head peeking through the waist of her stiff leather chest piece. It looked pretty funny. "Could you uh, help me?" she shyly requested and I failed to stop a chuckle in time. "Hey! Don't laugh!"

"Sorry, it's funny." I grinned as I took the chest piece off her head, then helped her get back into it properly.

"Thanks." she said.

"Hey, could you help me get into mine?" I asked.

"Sure." She grabbed my chest piece and pushed it down past my head until it was covering my chest. I brought my arms out of the shoulder guards.

"Thank you." I said.

"No problem." she replied, "Wanna train together?" I glanced at the Bad Bats, who were on the other side of the field and still were talking to themselves and laughing as they put on each others' armor. I wanted to, but I knew they would just call us boyfriend and girlfriend. I thought about it for several seconds, and decided I didn't want to give them any more reasons to pick on us.

"Actually, I kind of want to train with someone else…" I said as I put my helmet on my head. Her expression turned sad.

"Oh… okay…" she responded.

"Sorry, I just don't want-"

"Yeah, I understand. The Bad Bats can be real jerks…" she said, glaring at them. Just then, Andy approached us.

"Will you be my training partner?" he asked Emma, his voice shaking.

"Sure." she replied and helped him put on his armor. I felt bad, but at the same time, she seemed to know what I had meant. I looked over to see Henry looking for a training partner and went over to him.

"Do you want to be training partners?" I asked him. He turned to me and nodded.

"Sure! Can you help me put my armor on?" he requested.

"Sure!" I replied and began helping him. I was starting to believe that Drake and his friends wouldn't bother us.

As soon as everyone had their armor on, Ms. Sandy spoke up.

"Now pick up the swords and begin training. Just be careful, and call me over if you get hurt. I have potions that I can use to heal you. But that is not an endorsement to be violent to each other." she finished and we all grabbed our swords from the stands. While I pondered about what endorsement might've meant, Henry went ahead of me and raised his sword. I snapped out of my thoughts and raised my sword. He looked ready.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Yeah!" he shouted confidently and began to swing his sword rapidly at me.

"Whoa!" I stammered as I tried to stay out of his sword's reach. He swung again and again. _Ugh, this is just like with Emma…_ I thought. This time, though, I wouldn't let that strategy work. After all, I had armor. I could hear Ms. Sandy in the background, shouting tips and helping people with their training.

I swung my sword at his and managed to stop his sword in motion. Then, I swung at him, landing a blow just above his waist. My sword bounced off the hardened leather, but he stumbled back.

Next, he tried to thrust the sword at me, but I dodged the attack and swung my sword back. He didn't see the attack until it was too late, and I landed a barrage of attacks, swinging my sword left and right over and over. He was knocked back a step after each hit, but soon managed to recover and jumped out of the way.

Suddenly, something slammed against me from behind, and I fell to the ground with a thud. I heard laughter close by.

"Hey! Stop that!" I heard Andy yell, and I looked around to see the Bad Bats laughing at me from way far back. They stood several blocks away, and I could see that they were holding several eggs. Drake tossed one in the air and into his hand over and over, looking smug. I immediately grew angry, but composed myself. I was just going to lose again if I tried to confront them.

"Ignore them…" I heard Emma say to me. I looked up and saw her standing by me, offering a hand. I accepted it and she helped me get to my feet.

"Thanks…" I told her and she nodded.

"No problem, just… be careful." she replied, then headed back to Andy, who was glaring at them. My training partner looked at the Bad Bats, scowling, but then focused back on me.

I was about to swing at him, when another hard object slammed into my armored back, nearly knocking me to the ground again. This time, I heard the clucking of a baby chicken as it hatched from the shattered egg, and they began cracking up with laughter. I shot my head back at them.

"Do you mind!?" I raised my voice. Suddenly, the big cow guy scowled at me. He took a step closer and my heart skipped a beat.

"It's okay, Ralph." Drake held him back, "Besides, I wanna be the one to pound him in to the dirt." he said as he held his sword out towards me. With shock, I realized that he was challenging me.

"No, no, no. I'd rather not fight you…" I backed down, suddenly nervous.

"Hah! You? Pound David?! What a joke!" I heard Emma laugh as she stopped sparring with Andy once again, though I could tell it was an angry laugh. I shot a warning look at her, but she didn't seem to notice. "David would pound _you_ to a slab!"

"Emma…" I muttered.

"Ha, that's hysterical! My dad is a knight!" Drake boasted, "And so was grandpa, and my grandpa's dad!"

"David's dad is a knight, too!" Emma challenged, "And not only that, but just last night me and David killed a spider out in the woods!" At this, many of the kids who had been training stopped and came over to watch what was about to unfold with interest. I could see Henry's eyes widen with disbelief.

"Wait… they actually _killed_ a spider?" one of the other kids gasped. Emma nodded.

"Emma!" I cried out.

"Well then, how about we play Gladiators." Drake grinned as he pointed his sword towards me. I gulped nervously. Emma frowned-like she had just realized what she had done to me.

Drake walked up to me. I began to feel sweat forming on my skin. By now, everyone in the class had taken interest in us. I couldn't turn down this fight without looking like a total loser. Was my armor always this stifling hot? I looked around for the teacher, then saw her standing by an armor stand, watching us, no wait-she was watching me, seeing what I would do. _Some teacher…_ I thought as I weakly raised my sword. Drake smiled as he looked down at his wooden sword.

"Nah, I don't need this." he said as he cast the sword aside. I lowered my sword and gazed at him in confusion.

"But you don't have a sword now…" I pointed out, wondering what he was up to.

"Nah, I brought my own." he sneered as he pulled out an iron sword. My eyes widened with shock.

"Hah, you don't see these often. It's my dad's sword." he chuckled as he swung the military weapon around in the air. "Now, how do you want to play this?"

"Fairly…" I answered meekly. He shook his head in disagreement.

"That's not fun. Let's just fight." he demanded.

"Drake, you cheater!" Emma shouted. Drake seemed to ignore her.

Suddenly, he swung his sword at my head. I managed to duck in time. I watched him carefully, waiting for any attacks. He tried for a stab, and I barely managed to step out of the way of the thrust.

I tried for an attack of my own and swung my sword at his chest, but it just bounced off his armor. He retaliated with a swing, which landed on my leather chest piece. It hit hard, and pain filled my body. My weak armor barely could do anything to block an attack from such a sharp weapon. I cried out with pain as he slashed again and knocked me onto the ground. I was dazed, and my body hurt.

Something at the back of my mind nagged me. I had trained yesterday with Emma for this, but I felt that I was missing out on something… Something about that dream… What was it?

I tried to get back up, but Drake knocked me back again. I knew my dream had been special. But what was it about? I started to recall more and more details. There had been black skeletons that attacked me. And I recalled a normal skeleton that had been wearing armor. Suddenly, I knew exactly what the dream had been about. I had learned a sword technique. Had I learned a sword technique? No wait-I had been _taught_. But by what or who, I still couldn't remember.

I remembered something my mom had told me last night. _Well, David, I don't think you need to worry about that Drake…_ she had said. _What do you mean?_ I had asked. _Because your ancestors were great heroes._ Great heroes… My ancestors had saved the world, according to her. They were great heroes. I would _not_ lose like this! I slowly got back up to my feet and turned to face Drake. His confident grin receded a bit before returning.

"You're still standing?" he mocked, "What an idiot." I watched him closely and waited for him to attack, my brows furrowed and eyes serious.

Just as he swung his sword, I jumped to the side and rolled the way I had in my dream, rolling around him until I was directly behind him. Immediately, I jumped up and swung my sword at his back, aiming at the point where his leather chest piece and leggings met. I remembered learning that was a weak point. The blade struck the weak point and instantly both his leggings and chest piece fell off.

Once I landed on the ground, everyone was silent. Even the teacher looked speechless. Then, Drake turned back to me, and I could see anger in his eyes.

"Why, you stupid-" He raised his sword, and I felt an energy of some kind fill my body-as if I'd been hit with a beacon.

He swung at me and I immediately blocked. I retaliated by slashing my sword in a flurry of attacks. He must have had training before-perhaps with his dad, because he managed to avoid a lot of them, but I was still landing hits. Finally, I finished off with a spin and hit him. He lit red and flew back, landing on the ground. Everyone began to cheer. All of a sudden, the energy that had fueled me vanished, leaving me feeling exhausted. Emma ran over to me.

"David-how did you do that!? That was incredible!" she cheered.

"Thanks. I don't even know what that was…" I smiled weakly. Slowly, Drake got off the ground and glared at me with a burning fire in his eyes, as well as fear.

"You crazy freak!" he snarled. I walked past Emma and stared at him with a hard look.

"Get out of here, Drake. I beat you, even after you cheated!" I growled.

"I don't think so…" he argued as a grin formed across his face. "Bats, get him."

A shadow loomed over me and grabbed ahold of my hands, preventing me from escape. Everyone stopped staring and I looked back. Ralph had me in a tight grip. The other members approached me.

"Hey! You can't team on him!" Emma shouted, raising her own sword. "That is so cowardly!" Just then, Andy stepped out of the crowd, wanting to get involved. I also saw the teacher coming over here.

"Yeah! Teaming is unfair!" he said, his voice sounding much braver than I ever heard it whenever he was around Emma. Drake turned to look at Andy.

"You're one to talk! You came from TN-Town too! No one there ever plays by the rules!" he shouted, clearly agitated now that he was losing the crowd.

All of a sudden, the sky began to darken. Clouds soon covered the sun, and the distant sound of thunder echoed. Within seconds, day had seemingly turned to night as a purple haze covered the sky. Then, the very ground seemed to shake as a deafening hiss boomed.

My heart stopped when I saw three pairs of glowing white eyes appear in front of the whole class. The eyes raised up high into the air while glaring at us. My eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness, and I could make out the shape of a massive skeleton-like monster-just like the one from my dream a couple nights ago…

"Wh-what i-is th-tha-that?" I heard Ralph whimper.

"Oh my…" I heard someone else cry.

"Is that a…" another stammered.

"Everyone!" Ms. Sandy shouted and ran between us and the massive silhouette, "Get behind me! It's a Wither!" She wore a full set of iron armor. I realized that she hadn't been wearing it earlier, which shocked me that she had put it on so quickly. She quickly drew an iron sword and held it out, although her grip was trembling.

The Wither flew up until it towered above her and let out a deafening shriek. All three heads were staring directly at the teacher. I felt my hands get released.

"Forget this-I'm out!" Ralph announced and ran off. Over half of the class ran away with him-leaving me, Emma, Andy, Ms. Sandy, and a few other children quivering in fear-too scared to even move.

The Wither threw one of its heads directly down at the teacher. She jumped out of the way. Once the charge hit the ground, it exploded with a dark mist. I caught a whiff of the mist and gagged, it smelled unbearably powerful. Whatever had been in that head must've been hazardous, because my body started to ache all over. I quickly jumped away from the crater and away from the odor.

With a wavering shout, the teacher lunged at the skeletal monster and swung her sword up at its body. The blade bounced off and she landed back on the ground. The Wither let out a slight pained grunt before letting out an enraged hiss and firing all three of its heads at her. She disappeared in an explosion of dark mist and when the mist cleared, there was nothing left but a massive crater with a bunch of weapons, armor, potions, and food. We all cried out in horror at the realization that our teacher was gone. I heard the clanging of the village bells that went off during emergencies, followed by the shouting of people behind us. It must've been the adults, and they sounded panicked.

"Is that a-" one of them shouted.

"WITHER!" declared another, and the sound of heavy rushing metallic steps of an iron golem grew closer.

I was pushed to the side by Bob the iron golem, who had an angry and determined face. He ran over to the monster and slammed his massive arm into the beast's side with great force. The Wither was pushed back by the powerful impact and glared at him with three sets of hateful glares. The parents of many children ran and pulled their kids away from the conflict.

I felt a hand grab my arm and yank me away. I looked back and saw Mom. She began to drag me away. Emma's aunt showed up and did the same with her.

"Mom! What about Bob?!" I stammered, gazing at the iron golem in desperation. The beast bashed against Bob before he could attack again, knocking the iron golem down.

"He's holding off the monster. Now, come with me!" she ordered in a voice that had a hint of fear.

"BOB!" I cried helplessly as the Wither landed on top of Bob, all three heads staring directly at the golem. Then it struck Bob with two of its limbs in outrage before firing off a barrage of heads at him. Bob struggled against the oncoming attacks, but managed to grab the Wither and throw it off him. The Wither flew back directly above him and continued shooting heads at him, but Bob grabbed the bottom of the monster and slammed it onto the ground. The Wither let out a furious shriek and tackled the iron golem back to the ground. Bob appeared to struggle to get back up and I managed to see that all the black mist that was pouring out of the Wither and exploding out from its heads were coating Bob, making him darker. Bob tried one last time to get up, but then fell back down and, with a final clang, exploded into what looked like white smoke.

In that moment, I realized how dangerous of a situation it was. Bob, the iron golem that had loved to play with us kids, had protected our home for years all by himself, was gone. I had never seen someone disappear, especially not in such a tragic way, and I knew that the sight would be burned into my mind forever.

I felt a sting of pain on my arm and looked down at it, only to see a dark wave slowly spread across it. I then felt an unstoppable urge to cough, and became stuck in a coughing fit. It must've been that dark mist that I had inhaled, it was hurting me!

I heard the distant booming of a commanding voice that came from within the village.

"_READY…_ _AIM… FIRE!_" the voice shouted. Immediately, a dozen arrows flew at the monster. Many of them missed, but the ones that didn't were buried into its skeletal frame. The Wither let out a shriek of pain and anger, then flew past us, heading directly into the village. When the adults saw this, they immediately began moving us away from the village. I could see many more adults fleeing the village as the Wither attacked, destroying houses that had knights on top of them with its heads, only getting angrier with each arrow that impaled it. I listened to the bells going off. It looked and sounded like the apocalypse, with people in a panic and running around.

"Dear god..." my mother muttered to herself, "Please let your father be okay..." Almost everyone in the village was outside of the village, unable to do anything but watch as the monster destroyed our home village.

The Wither shrieked as an arrow impaled it, and I could faintly see it turn blue as a shining white aura began to cover it. Then, all the arrows that were hitting it suddenly started bouncing off, as if it were wearing some kind of armor. It focused down each warrior and they fell to its rapid fire, bursting into smoke as their items littered the rooftops. The remaining knights, seeing that arrows were no longer working, jumped off the rooftops and switched to swords, axes, and shields as the Wither charged at them. I saw one of them that might have been my dad, but he was too far away, so I wasn't sure. The Wither kept taking several hits from each knight until it finally gave up and flew off, leaving what remained of the village intact.

Immediately, everyone began to cheer as the Wither soon disappeared from sight. I was happy and cheered too, but I was afraid that the monster got away. What if it came back and attacked us?

The bells continued to go off for a few moments while the knights checked the village and made sure it was completely safe for the others, and once the bells stopped, we all returned home.


	7. Time for Action

**Fun Fact: In the world of Minecraftia, the Wither Effect is similar to a disease that can quickly kill the carrier if not cured immediately. It is not contagious and can only be inflicted onto a person from a Wither, a Wither skeleton, or a Wither rose.**

Once everyone had returned to the village, people were filled with paranoia, fearful of that monster returning. My mom had soon found my dad in his full suit of armor in the midst of the panic.

"What in the heavens happened!?" she interrogated my dad. He shook his head.

"I don't know! Somehow, a Wither had appeared and attacked the village! A _Wither!_" he stammered.

"I know, I saw the beast. What I wanna know is where did it come from?! Hell, how does that _thing_ even exist!?"

"I have no idea!" Dad cried. My eyesight was starting to go blurry and everything was beginning to fade in and out of my vision. All the energy was leaving my body. I coughed and called out in pain as I started to fall over, and Dad noticed me.

"Oh my lord, David, what happened to you!? You're gray all over!" he stammered as he ran over and scooped me in his arms. Mom gasped when she saw the state I was in.

"Dad... it hurts..." I moaned as I felt my body flash red. I could see his face filled with pain before it changed to realization. He turned to look at Mom.

"He has the Withering, and he needs milk immediately." he said to her as he brought me to my mom's arms. "Keep him calm and steady, I will be right back!" Then, Dad took off and it was the fastest I had seen him run in a while.

"Where are my friends..." I murmured, closing my eyes. "I wanna see them..."

"They're safe, David." Mom assured me with a voice that I was having a hard time listening to. "I'm not sure where either are, but they're okay."

After a couple moments, I heard my dad return, speaking to my mom, but the words were gibberish and I couldn't understand them. Then, I felt my mom's hand opening my mouth and felt the cold metal surface of a bucket touching the edges of my mouth. A liquid that I soon recognized as milk entered my body and within moments, the pain went away. I opened my eyes and felt strength returning to me. I could heard the mumbling of worried people in the background, and I could see the now-relieved looks on the faces of my parents as they saw me moving around.

"Thank heavens..." Dad sighed as he took away the bucket and put it into his pockets. "That was way too close..." he said as he gave me a huge hug. When he was done, I insisted that my mom let me stand, so she let me down and I stood, with a bit of difficulty, on my feet. I managed to tough it out though and saw Mr. Trent, the village mayor, walk over to the center of town in front of the fountain and place down a block, then jump onto it and stand over everyone. He looked over the panicking village people and shouted.

"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN!" he boomed, his voice projecting through the entire village. It took a moment, but everyone soon stopped and stared at him.

"Now, as you all know, a horrible attack on our young children has just unfolded-an attack from a beast from the Nether that we all thought had been killed off many years ago during the war. And coincidentally, the annual Pig Festival is coming up." the mayor spoke in an authoritative voice, "Needless to say, we are trying to find out everything that led up to this attack."

The Pig Festival was an event that happened once a year. The tradition was first started after a legendary hero of Minecraftia had saved the world from a white-eyed madman. Supposedly, the legendary hero had a pig companion that helped him along the way, and he created the festival to honor it, though I didn't know how there could even be a connection between the festival and the Wither attack.

"What are we going to do!?" a woman in the crowd cried.

"We will be sending a messenger directly to Diamond City, one of the leading cities of the Overworld." He replied. I heard many gasps of surprise in the crowd. Diamond City was one of the biggest cities. Many of the city's citizens were said to be descendants of great heroes. It was even rumored that a real hero lived there!

"Once word gets out of this, I expect that they'll be willing to provide us with the essentials. However, we have not yet decided who will be the messenger." he said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "And if anyone would like to volunteer, that'd be great."

"David..." Emma's voice shouted in a whispery tone. I looked to the side and saw her walk up next to me. Her aunt followed close behind to keep an eye on her.

"David, we have to volunteer!" she quietly said. I looked at her, shock in my eyes.

"What? No! Why should we?" I stammered.

"Because this is what we're supposed to do! I just know it!" she answered. I wondered if she was going crazy.

"Emma, do you remember those mobs last night!? We'll be attacked by even more, over and over!" I pointed out. She ignored me and set her backpack down, then stood on it to be visible.

"We'll go!" she shouted. I saw many people in the crowd shaking their heads with disapproval.

"Certainly not! This job will be very dangerous, and only an adult can do it!" the mayor explained.

"But we have to go! You see, for the past several days, I've been having weird dreams-" she began to recount, and her aunt grunted with frustration. She quickly grabbed Emma and pulled her off her bag, quietly speaking to her.

"Quiet, Amelia." she scolded, "No one has time to hear about your dreams now." Emma began to argue, but her aunt's scowling face stopped her.

"So, if anyone is willing to volunteer to head to Diamond City, now's the time to-"

"WAIT!" a weak voice wailed somewhere behind us. Everyone turned around and I noticed a man on the ground on the far side of the village. He looked scraggly. His clothes were torn up, like he'd been attacked by mobs many times over. He looked horribly exhausted, as if he'd been running for days without rest. "There's a monster…" he panted, "and its coming this way…"

"We were just attacked by a Wither." Mr. Trent said, "Might that be what you mean?"

"What!? And you fought it off?" the man wheezed, then sank to his knees.

"Someone get him something to eat!" the leader shouted. I watched one of my neighbors, Ms. Beth, rush to the man and bring out a bottle of water, handing it to him along with a steak. The man took both and took a long drink. He finished the entire bottle before continuing.

"My name… is Bill…" he panted, "I lived in the village of Teran. Until my village had been destroyed by the Wither." Several gasps erupted from the crowd. I heard murmuring among the crowd.

"Teran Village… destroyed?" one voice muttered.

"They were our neighbors…" another mouthed.

"What's going on?" a third whispered nervously.

"Yes, my home was attacked on a peaceful day just like this one. The beast just appeared out of nowhere, and took out our iron golem. Then, it flew around the village, letting loose its black mist of death as it fired its heads. Then, it began to ram into the others, bursting through our cobblestone houses as if they were made of glass. I ran away fast enough to avoid getting killed by it, but the other villagers… weren't so lucky…" he explained, then began to sniffle. "My wife was left behind, and it's because of my one moment of cowardice that she's dead. But I came here to warn you of its attack, so that what became of my home wouldn't happen again."

"It's okay." Ms. Beth comforted him, "We'll get help for your village." Everyone all around me began to mutter anxiously among themselves before Mom spoke up.

"Well, isn't it obvious?!" she angrily shouted, "These events can't be mere coincidences! Something is going on-something big!" Dad tried to stop her, but Mom was on a role.

"And what makes you think that?" the village blacksmith, Mr. Mason, questioned suspiciously.

"Don't you see? There have been strange occurrences happening a lot lately: Mobs attacking more frequently, we've been losing contact with other villages, and the fact that the _Wither_-a monster that was supposedly killed in the last war-just attacked us!" She pointed up at the still dark and cloudy sky, "Not to mention that the sun has not come out. It's daytime, and when it's this cloudy, there's always a storm. But it has not rained at all-almost as though something is keeping the clouds here! As we speak, mobs can be spawning around our home! This is _not_ normal!" she yelled.

"Then, tell us what you think is going on?" another villager questioned accusingly. My mom seemed to be clueless, so my Dad stepped up.

"I don't know what is going on, but I agree with the leader that Diamond City must be notified at once!" he said, "And that's why I would like to go there myself." The village leader looked relieved while a shocked look covered Mom's face.

"Excellent! In that case, you should spend the rest of today getting resources that you'll need. Then, you'll head out first thing in the morning." At this, I saw Mom shake her head in disbelief. The leader continued to talk, but I listened in on my parents' conversation.

"Joseph, you are not going." she quietly argued.

"Maria, I _am_ going. I have to." Dad argued back.

"We have to talk about this! You can't just volunteer to go on a journey that could take who knows how long. Especially with all the danger!"

"Maria, I have a theory about what's going on. I think..." he paused for a moment before continuing, "I think it might be _him_..." Dad muttered. I had no idea who this _him_ was, but he said it like this person was the scourge of the world.

"Well, even if it could be, you're a father! You can't just leave your family like that!" Mom reminded.

"I'm not going to talk about it now. We can discuss this at the house." I heard Mom try to protest, but Dad left the crowd.

Mom turned me around so I could look at her and told me to stay with Emma and her aunt. Then, she headed off through the crowd in pursuit, disappearing almost immediately. I continued to listen to what Mr. Trent was saying. Something about preparing fortifications for the village.


	8. Nothing to worry about

**Fun Fact: Unlike real humans, Minecraftians do not have a urinary system. They also are incapable of taking dumps. This is because why the hell would a video game programmer program something like that for a bunch of block characters?(lol)**

That night, I ate dinner with my parents in silence.

They both seemed stressed, as they had just finished off another argument, and it made the atmosphere charged with tension. It was clear to me that Mom had lost the argument, because she seemed more upset. After today, I was scared. I wasn't sure what was going to happen now. Poor Bob was gone, and so was our teacher, one of the nearest villages was destroyed, and now everyone was terrified. Mom and Dad were angry.

"Dad, do you really have to leave?" I asked. Dad continued to eye down his meal.

"Yes, David. I need to go to Diamond City. I have some friends there who can help me and this village." he answered.

"Even though this is something we should've discussed." Mom muttered under her breath.

"Well, I wasn't the one protesting about how we need to take action immediately." he replied. She looked up from her food and gave him a long look that he didn't return.

"What's going to happen to the village?" I asked, speaking to both of them. After a minute of silence, Mom spoke up as she looked away from Dad.

"Everything's going to be fine, David. There's nothing to worry about." she assured. But I knew deep down that nothing was fine. I began to nibble on my cooked steak. It was terrifying to think that somewhere in the world, that monster that had attacked us was still flying around, probably attacking other towns.

"Trent thinks that the Wither is a problem that can be controlled." Dad murmured, "What an idiot."

"If the Wither wasn't a threat, it wouldn't have destroyed Teran Village." Mom agreed, though her tone was hallow.

"But didn't Mr. Trent say he would get help from Diamond City?" I noted.

"Yes, but that was because he was forced to after the monster had attacked your class." Mom replied. "If it had attacked the village itself instead, I guarantee you he wouldn't have promised what he had. But when children are involved, public opinion typically demands action to be taken. Trust me, when you get older, you'll learn that some politicians will do and say anything to stay in power."

"I hate these _polite-tics_…" I mumbled to myself, "It's always pushing people apart…"

"Yes well, David, politics can get very controversial at times… But they're important. It allows people to discuss what changes need to be made, and what systems need to stay. We wouldn't have schools if Professor Bookstein didn't push for the educational program in the first place. In fact, we wouldn't even be able to ask for help from higher cities without politicians from both places." Mom explained. I looked back at Dad.

"Why do you want to go?" I asked. He continued to stare down his dinner, his arm holding his head above the table.

"Because I think I have a suspicion on who could be behind all of this. I believe I know someone who might've been foolish enough to unleash a monster like the Wither into the Overworld, as well as being capable of doing so. But, I need to go to Diamond City, because some of my friends over there can help this village." he explained.

"But why would you even want to go, considering all the mobs that will attack you at night?" Mom started, "And, who would you even look for? It's been years since you've last been to Diamond City. Chances are they moved away…"

"I still know that one of my friends lives there to this day. You know, Jackson. I recently received a letter from him with that address on it. I'm going to try to find him."

"When are you going to go, Dad?" I asked him.

"I'm going to leave tonight. Even though everyone thinks I'm going to leave in the morning, the sooner the better." he informed. That would've probably been a bad idea, if my dad wasn't a trained knight. I was sure he'd be able to do it, but I was still worried.

"How long will it take to get there?" I asked. He looked up at the ceiling, thinking out loud.

"Well, let's see. Diamond City is a good thousand chunks north from Blockfield... Between us and DC, there's two places to go that have minecarts systems set up to make the trip a lot faster. I'm thinking that I'm going to head for Victorian village instead of Stonewall town. If my math is right, it should take... a little more than a week." he explained. "Yeah, about a week." he confirmed.

I noticed our cat Paws sitting under the table, looking up at me hungrily. I looked at the cooked fish that still remained as my dinner. Picking up the cooked fish, I tossed it down onto the floor once Mom and Dad weren't looking. Paws began to nibble at it eagerly. I wasn't that hungry anyway. Once we had finished eating, my parents told me to go to bed.

As soon as I entered my room, I laid down in my bed and covered myself in my blanket. I felt a sense of nervousness. Would I have dreams again tonight? Or would I just sleep through the night? _Only one way to find out_, I thought to myself. I snuggled up in my sheets and closed my eyes. It took a while, but eventually I drifted off to sleep.

I opened my eyes at the sound of something tapping against my window. I tried to shrug it off and go back to sleep, thinking it was just a random noise, when a few seconds later it happened again. This time, I pulled the covers off my bed and got out. I took a glance at my clock on my wall. It was just past midnight. Groaning, I rubbed my eyes and headed to the window to check on it. What I saw shocked me.

Both Emma and Andy stood outside my window, with backpacks on their backs. Emma grew a smile as soon as she saw me peering back at her.

"Emma! Andy!" I shouted in a whispering tone, "It's midnight! What are you guys doing out there!?"

"We're gonna to head out. I want to head to Diamond City. You coming?" she asked, her voice traveling through the thin pane of glass.

"Emma, you can't! It's dumb!" I pleaded.

"I have to go; I just know this is something I need to do!" she responded.

"And what if you get caught? You'll be in so much trouble!" I reminded.

"You mean _we'll_ be in so much trouble." she corrected, "Andy's coming with me, and you're coming with me too."

"No. I don't want anything to do with this, Emma!" I argued, "You shouldn't go. You guys could die!"

"Well, we're going, with or without you." she said and turned around. She began to walk off. Andy turned to me.

"Come on dude, it's just Diamond City. It'll be easy!" he said, that overconfident smile on his face.

"_Easy_!? Diamond City's a thousand chunks away! You guys are crazy!" I stammered. He shrugged and turned to follow Emma.

"Wait, wait!" I quietly shouted desperately, hoping my mom wouldn't hear me and wake up. "I'll come!" I sighed. Emma and Andy both stopped and ran back to the window.

"Really!?" she said, filled with joy. I sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"Awesome! You can get ready! We'll wait for you!" she cheerfully promised, then left the window.

I sighed again and looked around my room. Picking up my backpack, I knew it would carry a lot of stuff in it, but it would be best to take only what I needed most. I took a peek at what was already in the pack. Inside were a few cooked porkchops, an apple, a couple loaves of bread, several wooden plank blocks and cobblestone-stuff Mom had packed for me to use in school. I looked through my chest and found a piece of flint, which I took. I also found a slightly used wooden pickaxe. _Definitely going to need that_, I thought as I placed the tool in my pack. Then, I saw the spider eye and string we had earned last night. That had been the very first monster we had slain. Who would've thought we were going to have to spend another several nights outdoors?

I picked up the string and the eye and put it in my bag, just as a memento. I found seven torches and took those as well. And finally, I discovered a fishing rod and stowed that away. _Never know when we'll need fish_, I thought. Now that I was now ready to make a sword and go, I turned toward the crafting table. Placing two wooden plank blocks on the table, they turned into sticks, and I placed two more planks on the table with one of the sticks, instantly turning them into one brand-new wooden sword.

I took the sword and brought it towards my backpack, but then hesitated. _What am I doing?_ my mind realized, _I'm actually running away! This is a serious thing!_ But I had to go with Emma and Andy. They were both my only friends, and as my mom would say: _Gentlemen don't let their friends head off towards death without escorting them._ She would probably say that, anyway. She would also probably say how much trouble I was going to be in if I went through with this. _How did I get myself into this mess?_ I thought to myself as I hid away the sword and walked out of my room. I snuck out of the house, where Emma was waiting for me.

"You ready?" she asked and I nodded. The heavy metallic steps of the town's new iron golem shook the road as he strolled by, not paying us much attention.

"Then, let's go!" she said and turned around. We headed to the edge of the village and passed through. We were now no longer safe.


	9. A Night in the Woods

**Fun Fact: Minecraftian humans do not have ears. This is because they hear things differently from how real humans do, so if they were to have ears, they would be completely pointless. They detect sound from their hitboxes.**

It was dark, and I swear I could hear monsters all around us. The woods rustled in the wind, and we could barely see through all the dark.

"You guys got any torches?" Andy asked.

"I do." I replied as I pulled out three unlit torches and gave one to both of them, keeping the last one for myself.

"Do you know how to light them up?" Emma asked, waving it around and trying to get it to ignite.

"You just gotta find a hard and rough surface and slide it across it. That's how I was able to at least." I explained as I slid the torch roughly against a nearby tree trunk. The tip immediately caught on fire and began to cast light throughout the darkness. The others did the same and their torches ignited. Our collective light shown across a wide distance.

Suddenly, I heard the moaning of a zombie as it appeared from the woods behind us, arms out and ready to attack. Quickly, I drew my wooden sword, but then another zombie appeared.

"Uh, guys..." I stammered, backing away from the monsters. I turned back to see them with their own swords out as well. Fear shown across their faces, which didn't reassure me whatsoever.

"I think the light's attracting them. We need to get out of here!" I gasped as something tackled me to the ground. "AH!" I felt a bite and my body flashed red with pain. The sound of a giant spider hissing as it tried to get in another bite filled the air.

"David!" Andy shouted and within moments, the spider was pushed off of me. I grabbed Andy's hand and he pulled me up. Then, we both looked over at Emma to see her backing away from a four-legged green monster was approaching her, an angry look in its eyes.

"EMMA!" we both shouted and bolted to her as fast as legs could manage. Andy pushed her away while I swung my sword at the creeper, knocking it back for a second before it turned to me and began to swell. Realization filled my eyes and I quickly turned to run back just as the monster exploded, the blast pushing me down onto the ground with a grunt.

"We need to find a safe place to hide, it isn't safe anymore!" I heard Andy shout as he helped me back up.

"What about that cave over there?" Emma asked, pointing ahead. I tried to look for it in the darkness, and after a second I could see a hill a couple chunks away that had a cave opening. I had no idea how she was able to see it, but I didn't care at the moment.

"That's a good place, let's go!" I responded and we each ran as fast as we could for the safe place, dodging past trees and spiders. Once I managed to make it, I saw Emma had made it with me, then turned to look for Andy. When I didn't see him, I looked back into the woods and saw him struggling as a spider was close behind him. He needed help now or he was going to be tackled. I looked at Emma before going after him.

"You need to seal this cave with as many blocks as you can!" I told her. She nodded in understanding and began to pull out dirt blocks. I turned back and ran for Andy.

"Be careful!" she called after me. As I charged ahead, I noticed the spider take him down and try unsuccessfully to bite him. Then, I saw two zombies catching up to them, and increased my pace even more.

As soon as I made it, I let out a panicked cry and slammed my wooden sword at the spider with enough force to knock it away from my friend, then let him grab ahold of my hand. "One for one." I said as I lifted him up.

"Thanks David." he said and began to back away from the zombies, same with me. "What do we do about these guys?"

"Run, Emma's covering up the cave. You need to go now!" I said as an arrow flew from behind the zombies. I watched as it landed into Andy's side and he flashed red with pain.

"Andy, go!" I shouted and he turned and ran. I quickly turned and ran behind him, looking ahead to see that Emma had covered up most of the cave entrance with dirt, leaving only a small one block opening that we could fit into.

We finally made it into the cave, gasping in exhaustion from everything that had happened. I noticed that Emma had placed her torch on the wall, so it wasn't dark. Then, suddenly I heard a sharper snarl as a zombie jumped in through the hole after us, this was much smaller than any zombie I had seen. It looked like a child version, and it lunged at Emma, tackling her and pinning her to a wall. She cried out in shock before pushing it off of her. I tried to get up, but I was too hurt and exhausted, and could only watch as Andy got up and tackled the baby zombie to the ground and swung his sword down at it twice before it disappeared with a final snarl.

Emma immediately went over to the opening and placed a final dirt block down, sealing us inside and the monsters outside. I moved myself over by the wall to support myself and went through my backpack to pull out some bread, then began eating it. Then, I looked at the cave and saw that it led down somewhat before closing off at a dead end. I could see some dark specks in some of the stone walls, and pinkish specks on others, but I wasn't sure what either were, so I didn't think too much about it.

"Are you guys okay?" Emma asked, still panting from her terrifying encounter with the zombie.

"I'm..." Andy winced as he pulled out the arrow from his side, "I'm fine. I could go all day with those monsters!" he said, probably trying to impress Emma.

"I'm going to be honest, we shouldn't have left the village..." I groaned.

"Well, now it's too late. We can't leave this cave until those monsters go away in the morning, and by then your parents and my aunt'll know what happened, and they'll kill us if we go back!" she pointed out.

"We just need to go to sleep. Then, we'll find out what to do in the morning." Andy said.

"But how will we even know when it's morning? We can't leave a block open to outside or another of those small zombies will come in here." I explained.

"Don't worry about that, I brought a clock!" Emma exclaimed as she pulled a clock out from her pockets and held it high. It was showing that it was between midnight and dawn, which seemed like enough time for a short sleep.

"Okay, I guess we can sleep." I sighed as I finished off my bread. My body started feeling better in response to eating. The others sat down and started laying on their sides, so I did the same and tried to get some sleep. But it was hard to feel comfortable sleeping on cold stone ground. I missed my bed. After a long time of trying to relax, I finally managed to fall asleep.


	10. The Second Lesson

_When I opened my eyes, I was in a pale world shrouded with a dark sky. Purple plant-like things stemmed from the ground and climbed so far into the sky that I couldn't even see the top. I could see some of them had gross-looking blocks that resembled strange growths. Then, I turned around and saw the same warrior that I had trained with the night before. He had his sword and shield out, and was eyeing me, as if he was expecting something from me. __I drew out my weapon, which was a wooden sword, and approached him slowly, sword ready, knowing what it was that he was expecting. __I realized that this time he had his sword in his left hand, and his shield in his right, while last time he had it the other way around. I wondered if it was because I was left-handed, and he was switching his main hand and off-hand for me._

_Once I was within striking distance, he raised his sword up, and then brought it down towards me. Immediately, I jumped to the left and went into a turning somersault for a second before kicking my legs off the ground and swinging my sword at his back. He was knocked forwards as the wooden blade struck him, but then turned around and bashed his shield against my body. I flew back from the force of the attack and landed against a purple stem, letting out a grunt from the force of the blow. I steadily got back up and looked at him._

_"It is good that you managed to pull off the Circular-Slash..." the knight praised, "However, you failed to put your full strength into the attack, and therefore I was quickly able to recover from the strike and counterattack. You must continue to hone your strengths, and fully master the technique on your own." He continued to speak, "Your fight against that other child, I saw it. You managed to use the Circular-Slash appropriately in that situation." How did he see that?_

_"How come your armor didn't fall apart?" I asked him. "You said that it caused most armor to break away when done."_

_"As I said, your attack was not strong, therefore it did not manage to overpower my armor." he informed, "And even if it had, the armor that I don is specifically made to be used for combat. It is as tough as diamond and would not fall apart so easily. The Circular-Slash doesn't work on armor harder than iron unless the blade used against it is harder than iron." He then walked over to me as he stared into my eyes. "Today has been a dangerous day for you as well, you encountered a Wither and were nearly withered away by it..." he pointed out. "And now you are embarking on a journey that you very well know may threaten your lives, specifically with your young age." I looked down._

_"I... I tried to talk Emma and Andy out of it, but they wouldn't listen." I explained. He looked down at me, and I couldn't tell what he was thinking._

_"You aren't going solely to watch over them, are you? You also want to try and find a way to stop the Wither?" he questioned, in a tone that suggested that he knew the answer._

_"I... it almost destroyed my home... I watched as it killed my teacher and Bob. I can't just do nothing..." I admitted. I heard a sound from the spectral knight that might've been a grunt._

_"Spoken like a courageous prodigy. Perhaps I did underestimate the potential that you have." he said, "However, you wouldn't last against a monster on your own, even with the Circular-Slash. Especially the Wither. And that is why I shall continue to teach you new techniques that are no longer taught by combat experts of today."_

_"Are there really that many techniques that were forgotten by knights?" I asked him. "My dad is a knight, and he-"_

_"I know who your father is, even more than you do. And the way combat is taught now is significantly more simplistic compared to how it was during the Great Desolation War. The techniques I plan to teach you are more complicated than rolling around the foe and striking from the air." he informed as he raised his sword, preparing to struck it into the ground._

_"Wait, do you go by a name?" I asked._

_"As I stated in our first encounter, in life, I was a hero who went by the name of Steve." he reminded._

_"I know, but is there another name I can call you? It feels a bit weird calling a skeletal knight Steve when it's serious..." I pointed out nervously._

_"You may call me as I am, a spectral hero." he answered. The Spectral Hero... not much better. "Or, you may simply call me Master if you deem it appropriate..." There it was, that was better. __He lowered his golden sword to his knee._

_"Okay then, Master." I responded, feeling a little excited. I had read stories about warriors that came to become legendary heroes while training with a more experienced warrior or monk and how they called their teachers their masters. I had secretly always wanted to be a hero, but I was always too shy to actually believe I could ever become one. I always wanted to be more like Dad and less of a scared wimp._

_"I have noticed that you have great difficulty when it comes to fighting off spiders." he pointed out. "There are various techniques useful for defending against the arachnids, though they are not abandoned techniques. You would have been taught this a couple months from now had you chosen to stay behind, but they will be very useful for you now." he said as he brought his sword down onto the pale surface with great force, shaking the ground. A bunch of giant spiders appeared all around him, effectively surrounding the ghostly knight._

_"Should you find yourself in a dangerous position where there are spiders around you, ready to ambush, then you must watch carefully and find out where the first lunge comes from. Then, you need to duck beneath the first attack, and then plunge your weapon directly into its abdomen, like so-" Suddenly, a large spider lunged at him, and he managed to duck beneath it before stabbing his golden sword into the stomach of the spider. Then, he used the momentum from the spider's lunge to keep it in motion as he used his sword to swing the spider off and it slammed into another spider, both of them turned to black smoke immediately._

_"If you are to be overwhelmed and taken down by a spider, it is important that you remain calm and focused. A monster is only as dangerous as you are willing to allow it to be. If you are taken down by one, you must stab at its abdomen as it tries to bite at you." Just then, a big spider pounced onto the spectral knight from behind, and he grappled with it for a moment before turning himself around and grabbing ahold of it with his shield arm, then plunging his blade straight into the belly of the monster. I could see the end of the golden sword erupting from the spider's back as the monster went limp and he cast it aside. The beast turned into smoke as it landed on the ground._

_"And finally, when multiple of them surround you, sometimes, they all will pounce at you, with the intent to take you down much more easily and subdue you. In this situation, you must perform a well-timed spin attack." he explained as the spiders all raised their butts and wriggled them before jumping at him. He held his sword outwards from his side and then, letting out a ghostly howl as he swung it around in a massive circle. The blade bit into each and every spider that had jumped, knocking them back with red flashes as they exploded into smoke particles. When all the smoke was gone, there were no more spiders._

_He turned to look back at me with his glowing eyes, "Now, you try it." he said as several more spiders appeared in a circle around me. I raised my sword, but seeing the giant spiders all glaring at me, I started to shake with fear._

_"Do not panic. Heroes don't listen to what their minds want them to think. The only difference between a hero and a coward is that a hero's body acts before his mind, while a coward's mind acts before his body." he explained. I stared at the spiders around me and tried to compose myself. Then, one spider lunged from behind, and I noticed at the last moment and ducked. When I swung my sword up, it missed the spider._

_I looked over at the spider that had tried to attack me and watched as it turned around to jump again, and I quickly ducked below and sent my wooden sword directly into the body of the monster, using all my strength to stop its motion and slammed it onto the ground. The spider erupted in a burst of smoke particles with a last hiss. __Suddenly, a large spider charged at me from ahead and slammed against me, knocking me to the ground. I grunted from the shock of the impact and struggled to keep the spider from biting my neck._

_"Remember to attack while it is upon you." the Spectral Hero reminded, "It may seem like it has the upper hand, but it is still vulnerable while on you." Desperately, I gripped my sword and, as I held the giant monster up with one hand, I thrust my sword directly into its belly, causing it to shriek in pain as it struggled even more to overpower me. I continued to plunge the weapon deeper, and after a moment it fell sideways and landed on its back, its legs crossed as it exploded into more smoke._

_"Remember what comes next." the knight warned. My eyes widened as the rest of the spiders began hissing and raising their back ends in the air, getting ready to pounce. I held my sword, feeling my grip shake, when I felt a mystical energy fill my body, replacing my fear with courage. As they all jumped at me, I let out a yell and swung my sword all around me in a circle, feeling the blade strike against each monster as they flew back and disappeared into smoke._

_I managed to stop my spinning without falling over and turned to look at the ghostly knight. He had a look on his face that I couldn't understand._

_"Excellent work, you managed to learn to fight off spiders for the most part. However, it seems that while performing the spin attack against the rest of the spiders, you managed to channel an unusual energy." he said. "When was the first time you managed to call it?" he questioned._

_"Um... a few days ago, I think..." I told him. He stared at me for a moment before responding._

_"That energy, I have not seen a person capable of channeling it since life. We call that the Spirit of Hope." he revealed._

_"The... Spirit of Hope?" I repeated, confused._

_"Yes, it is the final thing the Creator gave to the people before he left this world. It is a strength that rewards those with incredibly strong willpower with the courage and power they need to stand against enemies far stronger than themselves. Normally, one does not have the willpower to call forth this courage until he has aged many years. The fact that you are able to call upon it this early in your life, it is unusual, but it can benefit you greatly." he explained. "However, we shall not begin to train you on harnessing the strength of your heart until you have learned the many abandoned techniques of past."_

_"Wait, so all heroes have this... Spirit of Hope in them, right?" I asked. He shook his head._

_"Heroes can have this gift, but not all of them do. The ones that do not are the true brave heroes, able to make themselves fight for what's right without the Creator's gift and with their own courage. But most heroes do have the Spirit of Hope within their programs." he revealed. "However, there was a great amount of time between the last hero with this power and yourself. And between that time, the Spirit of Hope appeared to have vanished from the coding of humanity. I had feared that the hope had died out. But because you are born with it, it means that despite it all, the Creator's final gift has not left."_

_ "Wait, so, having this thing makes me a hero?"_

_"Having this strength does not make you a hero." he responded. "There have been false heroes who have had it, and they exploited it to become famous. Some heroes became the very legends they weren't worthy of leaving. Some of them became villains. Some became anti-villains who sought to change the world for selfless reasons, going about it the wrong way. Most of them live their lives neither as a hero nor villain, completely unaware of the potential that they have. The only difference is that you are the first who discovered the strength of his will before he aged into a teenager." he explained._

_"I think I understand now, Master." I replied. Just because I had this power didn't mean I was __guaranteed to be heroic. I still had to work for it._

_"Remember the advice that you were given here." the Spectral Hero said. "Keep training your Circular-Slash during the day. At night, I will test you. Understand?" I nodded and he lowered his sword to his knees._

_"Young one, this journey that you have begun will be dangerous. You will be fighting not only for yourself, but for your friends as well. And with that Wither on the loose, the stakes are nothing less than the survival of the human race. I myself have fought against one of them, and it ended with my demise. Your destiny has now begun." he revealed. "Legacy, it is all that anyone truly has that can persist even through time. And it will be up to you to carry on the torch of heroism in the darkness. So, steady yourself, and when the time has come, we shall meet again." He put his sword away, and with that, the dreamscape faded away._

**Hey guys, so I wanted to let you know that I'm planning to take a couple days off for now. I've been writing a lot, and it's getting a bit overwhelming to sit at the computer typing all day. That's not to say I won't work on pushing out more chapters during that time, just that I won't be uploading them everyday anymore. The schedule is probably gonna be once every two or three days, that way I don't get burned out. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up, so you aren't confused as to why it's taking much longer. Don't forget to leave a review on what you thought about this chapter! I tried hard not to let this newfound ability David has seem like some cliched hidden super power that has no reason being in a game like Minecraft, and I wanna hear what you guys think.**


	11. A New Journey

**Fun Fact: Minecraftians do not actually need sleep to survive. They can go entire days, weeks, and even months without sleep as their bodies primarily function using food. However, sleep has become a more welcome method of skipping through the night easily. It also allows their bodies to relax, which makes them feel better in the morning and more full of energy than what food would normally do, and it prevents phantoms from hunting them at night.**

I awoke to seeing Andy over me, shaking me awake. I groaned, covering my eyes, but he pulled my arm away.

"David, we need to go now!" he whispered, his voice beginning to panic.

"What?" I mumbled. I could see Emma standing up, adjusting her backpack. She saw me up and pulled out her clock, showing that it was early morning.

"My mom is somewhere outside, she's calling my name." Andy revealed. "We need to go deeper."

"Deeper? You mean underground?" I asked, to which he nodded.

"If we break through the dirt, Andy's mom is going to hear us, and they'll know where we are." Emma explained.

"Well, it's a good thing I brought my wooden pickaxe." I replied as I sat up. I took off my backpack and went through it, pulling out my pick. While I did so, I managed to hear a faint voice from outside calling Andy's name.

"Alright, I guess you'll do the mining then." Emma said as she pointed over to the dead end of the cave, "Go and mine that." Without a word, I ran over to the dead end and slammed my pick against the wall, but as I struck the tool, it shook with great force and the shudder spread to my body. My arm ached from the impact, but I kept my mouth shut, only dropping my pickaxe in response to the pain.

"We're gonna need to take shifts..." I quietly said, wincing.

"Oh come on, how hard can it be?" Emma complained as she came over and picked up the pickaxe. I stepped aside as she raised the tool up before slamming it down onto the stone wall. Immediately, I could see the look on her face change to that of pain and surprise as she let go of the pickaxe and began shaking too. "Wow, this is much harder than I thought..." she stammered.

"Um, guys..." Andy whispered. I turned to see the side of his face pressed against the dirt wall. "I think she's getting closer. We should hurry!" he revealed. My heart began to beat rapidly, and turned around to pick the pick up, then started slamming it against the stone. Before long, the first block was destroyed, and I stepped forward to mine the one behind it. It was hard work, and after ten or so blocks I called it quits and handed the pickaxe to Emma for her to begin mining. Before long, we went in shifts, once I was tired of mining, Emma would pick up the tool and get to work, and once she was tired, Andy would do the same, and after he was tired, it would be my turn. This continued until the wooden pickaxe finally broke.

"What do we do now?" Emma asked.

"We can make a stone pickaxe if we have two sticks." Andy informed. I went to my hands and brought out two wooden planks, put one above the other, and watched as they turned into four sticks. Then, I turned to him and handed him two of the sticks. We waited as he put down a crafting table and crafted a stone pickaxe. Then, we continued mining for what felt like hundreds of years before we dug into a cave that led to the surface.

We quickly climbed out of the cave, not interested in getting into more fights with the monsters, and finally, I got to see the sun directly overhead. Right in front of us was a stream, and behind us was a large hill, with another hill to the side of that. I noticed that the stream cut through the two hills. We seemed to be in an area where there were a lot of trees. I noticed a giant red mushroom growing in the distance. I think that meant that we were in the roofed forest area. I remember my dad calling it a biome, but I didn't know what a biome was.

"So, where do we go now?" Emma asked. I looked up at the sun to see where it was heading. My dad had also taught me that if I was lost and needed to know what direction to head that I needed to look at the sun and see where it was going because it was always heading west.

"I think we head north." I explained, then pointed in the direction I was sure was right. "That way!" Then, we began traveling.

By the time the sun was setting, we had long left the roofed forest area and had made it into a snowy forest area. We quickly got to work and punched down a tree, using teamwork to lift each other higher to reach the further blocks, but as we got higher, it took longer to break the logs. Then, we began building a small hut. As soon as we finished, it began to snow-just in time. Once we were all inside, I placed down a dirt block to prevent monsters from getting in and put a torch on the wall, lighting up the dark hut.

We sat on the snow-covered ground, although it was slowly melting from the heat of the torch. We were eating before we were going to get sleep. As I finished off a loaf of bread, we decided to ask each other some questions.

"So, David, cats or dogs?" Andy asked me.

"Well, you might think I like dogs more, but I actually prefer cats." I answered.

"Hey Andy," Emma started after finishing an apple, "So, you moved in here from TN-Town. Isn't that one of the Cities of Harmony?" He nodded. "What was it like living there?"

"It was actually kind of scary. You know how a lot of griefers live there, it's kinda the town's thing. Everyone's all about thrill, so they play around with tnt all the time. I did too because it was pretty exciting, but once my mom saw me with an active block of tnt in my hands, she grabbed it and threw it away very fast before it could explode. That was when she decided that we were going to move to a safer place." he explained.

"Sounds crazy." Emma said with a smile. I could tell she was even more hyper than usual. "How about any crushes? Come on, spill the blocks." He flinched upon hearing this.

"Well, uh. I mean, I, uh... I d-d-don't really-" he stammered and I felt bad for him. I didn't think it was normal for kids our age to tell others about their crushes, but for some reason Emma was constantly asking. She simply didn't care what other people thought about her, and I wish I could feel the same.

"I think this girl named Melanie's kinda, just little bit cute." I admitted to her, covering Andy. She turned to me with a large smile on her face. I noticed Andy mouth 'thank you' to me and nodded.

"Really? I know her! You two would be so cute together!" she squealed. "It explains why you were looking at her in class that day!" Normally, I would absolutely refuse to talk to anyone about something so personal, but it had dawned on me that these people weren't just regular friends. They were the closest and best friends I could have asked for.

"Seriously though, don't tell anyone, not even her." I stared at her, but she just gave me that one-eyed smirk as she nodded.

"I understand..." she said, winking. Then, I began to shudder at the realization of the mistake I may have just made.

"How about you, Emma?" I asked her. "Got any crushes?"

"Nope, but you guys would be the first to know!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"Hey, David?" Andy turned to look at me. "So here's what I wanna know. How did you become so great at fighting?"

"Oh yeah!" Emma dropped onto her belly and held her head up with her arms while her legs were in the air as she looked at me curiously. "What's your secret?"

"I-I'm not sure I'm supposed to say it..." I hesitated.

"Come on! Spill the blocks!" she pushed.

"Well," I looked around to see if anyone else was listening, even though there was probably no one else for miles. "Sometimes, at night, I have this dream that I'm in a very dark place. And then, this ghost knight appears and teaches me how to fight." I revealed.

"Whoa! Consider me intrigued!" Emma gasped. "Go on."

"Well, the first time I had a dream, it was on the night before the first day of school. He appeared and taught me how to roll around an enemy and attack them from behind." I explained.

"Wait, didn't you use that attack on Drake when you two fought?" Andy recalled and I nodded.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure that was the only reason why I won. I managed to surprise him, and it gave me a chance to attack." I replied. Emma scowled.

"Drake's a real jerk. The way he tried to gang up on you with his crooks, it was so dumb." she said, glancing down.

"Yeah, that was unfair." Andy agreed. Then, Emma's scowl disappeared as she looked back at me.

"But hey! That's pretty cool! It's like you were chosen or something!" she exclaimed. "Now, you're going to become an epic hero and save the world! And we're even going on a journey to save the world from that monster!"

"Yeah," I said, looking up with a slight smile, "I guess we are." After a moment of silence, Andy spoke up.

"Well, it's kinda late. I'm going to sleep." he said.

"Oh yeah, me too." replied Emma as she was finally burned out on energy.

"Me three." I said as I yawned and laid on my side against the wet grass. I heard Emma and Andy yawn as well. After the long day of traveling, I didn't have much trouble falling asleep and traveling into the dreamscape.


	12. The Third Lesson

_I dreamed that I was in an otherworldly place covered in darkness. There were purple plants growing from the ground that shot up into the sky, and they branched endlessly. Then, I turned around and saw the spectral hero standing a few blocks from me, watching me. His sword and shield were out and ready, and I drew my own wooden sword out and approached him._

_As I approached, I noticed he wasn't attacking, and so I immediately began swinging my sword at him. He managed to turn his sword to block every attack and went for an attack downwards. Then, I quickly jumped to the side and performed the Circular-Slash, somersaulting around him until I jumped up in the air and turned to face his backside. Then, I gripped my sword and yelled at the top of my lungs as I slammed the blade against his back with enough force to knock him off his feet. He fell forwards and landed on the ground, his armor clattering loudly as it struck the ground._

_When I landed on my feet, I ran at him and swung my sword down at him, but he rolled to the side and jumped back onto his feet. I ran at him, but he thrust his blade at me and the tip of the weapon struck my chest. I flashed red as the force of the attack sent me flying back._

_"Oww..." I groaned and slowly got back up._

_"Your strategy was on point. You went on the offensive, and once you saw that it wasn't working, you maneuvered around your opponent and successfully hit me with a powerful Circular-Slash. You messed up, however, when you wasted precious time running towards me instead of lunging, giving me time to dodge and retaliate." he explained._

_"What can I do to do better then, Master?" I asked him._

_"I shall teach you a technique that allows you to swiftly end the breaths of the monsters that lie on the ground at your mercy." he explained as he raised his sword. He slammed it against the ground, and a zombie appeared in front of him. Instead of charging at him, the zombie stayed where it was, moaning hungrily. "This technique is taught to more experienced students of the sword, and it exploits the timing that is offered when you stun certain mobs. It is called the Finishing Stab."_

_"When you find your opponent has sustained enough damage, they may collapse to the ground from exhaustion. You must take this as an opportunity to take immediate action before they regain their footing, and impale them with an ending blow." he instructed as the zombie began approaching, groaning sorrowfully._

_The Spectral Hero struck the zombie with his sword, knocking it back before he struck it a second time, which caused the monster to fall over. Then, he jumped over at the monster, and brought his sword below him as he landed on top of the zombie and impaled it in the chest with his blade. The zombie let out a final growl before exploding into smoke. Then, the hero got back up and brought his sword down to the ground, creating another zombie that quickly approached him._

_"Other times, you may decide you want to end a battle quickly, and so you may attempt to knock mobs over. At your current age, you may only be capable of knocking over smaller mobs, such as baby zombies and cave spiders." he informed, and as the zombie came right up to him, he slammed his leg against the monster's own legs, causing it to fall over. The zombie began crawling towards him, and he planted his foot on the back of the monster and buried his golden sword deep into it, which made the zombie go limp and burst into smoke particles._

_"It is a technique which should never be used on another human, unless you intend to kill them, but as I have stated before, a hero should never seek to kill another human unless he has no choice." he reminded. I nodded in understanding._

_"Now then, show me that you can retain knowledge of this technique." he ordered as he created two zombies in front of me. One of them was a baby while the other was an adult. The adult saw me right away and stumbled towards me, while the baby was looking away. I raised my sword nervously and approached it before the spectral knight spoke up._

_"It is ideal for you to stand your ground and let mobs that attack with their fists such as zombies come to you." he pointed out. I nodded and stood my ground as it came closer._

_Once the green guy was in range, I swung my sword up at it, causing it to call out in pain, which immediately drew the attention of the smaller one. The small zombie charged at me much faster than the adult and before I could knock the adult to the ground, it caught up and I was forced to run from it._

_"When a hero is in a tight situation, he must learn to fight intelligently." the knight informed, and I turned to face the baby zombie._

_Right as it was about to attack me, I kicked its legs to the side, and it fell to the ground and began crawling hastily to grab me. Then I planted my foot on its back and stabbed my sword into it, causing the baby zombie to snarl before it disappeared into smoke. I sighed in relief, but then a shadow covered me as the bigger zombie groaned hungrily._

_Immediately jumping away, I watched and waited for the zombie to get in range before stabbing my sword at it. Upon taking more damage, the zombie stumbled backwards and fell over, and I took the opportunity to run over towards it and jump up before surging my wooden sword down into the undead monster. It let out a final groan and exploded into more smoke. Then, I looked back at the knight._

_"Excellent, you have proven to me that you can perform both methods of the Finishing Stab. Be sure to memorize this technique, for it can be very useful for ending battles before they begin." he pointed._

_"I'm ready to learn some more of these 'abandoned techniques' you were telling me about the first time we met." I told him. "This is all just stuff I'm going to learn later anyways." He stared at me, a look in his eyes that I couldn't recognize._

_"In time, young one, you will learn more of the ancient arts of the blade. But for now, you need to learn the vital lessons that may aid you on your quest." he informed. "Your own survival is my maximum priority, there is nothing more to be said about it."_

_"Young one, as a hero prophecised to be the new protector of the world, you will have to make decisions you would not want. You may even need to do morally questionable things that may go against what being a hero is. When I lived as the legendary hero, I had to make very difficult decisions, some that even ended with my friends and allies beings killed. I had to feel guilt in order to mature, as well as the heroes that came before and after me. You cannot expect to always be in the right." he told me._

_"I understand, Master." I replied, a serious look on my face. He stared at me straight in the eyes._

_"Keep training. You must ready your body and mind, for the Great Evil that will one day rise will test you and your morals in every way." he informed._

_"But what is this Great Evil you keep talking about? Isn't the Wither the Great Evil?" I asked._

_"The Wither is an evil being, but it is only a pawn in the Great Evil's plan to destroy the world. You will know when it rises, for the heavens will grow black as light will fade from the world, unable to return. The monsters that will be born into this world of darkness will be the slaves of the Great Evil." he revealed. "The result of the Great Evil's rise would be an endless night, and societies would begin to fall, one by one, until all of humanity was destroyed." I felt my body shudder from the thought as doubt began to fill my mind._

_"But... what could I possibly do to stop it? I'm just some kid, not a warrior..." I muttered._

_"That is why I am training you, to turn you into a warrior. The Great Evil will not rise for many years. In that time, it will use pawns to serve its will. It is up to you to grow into the hero." he told me._

_"I... I think I understand." I responded, still feeling insecure._

_"Remember, keep your mind sharp. Watch your friends' backs. Keep traveling the Overworld, and do not stay out at night." He lowered his sword to his knees. "'A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage...' These are the words of a brave knight. You'd do best to remember them. Train, hone your skills, and when the nighttime comes, we shall dual more..." And with that, he put away his sword and shield, and the dreamscape faded._

**There we go, David has just learned new technique and is ready to kick ass! Now, I'm not gonna lie, it's getting a bit hard to keep writing these training sessions, so the next training chapter probably won't be for a bit. But what do you guys think of them? Be sure to leave a review! I haven't been getting reviews lately, so it'd really help out to find out what people think of them.**


	13. Welcome to Victorian Village

**Hey guys, I know it's been almost a week since I last posted a chapter to the series, and I'm really sorry about that. I've just been dealing with a huge cold over the past week and it's greatly hindered my ability to write and think. Until I fully get over it, I probably won't be able to follow the schedule, but I'll do my best. Without further ado, here's chapter 13!**

_**Joseph's POV**_

I started to see large walls in the distance. They must've been the gates of Victorian Village, and I could see two guards standing at the sides of the entrance. As I rode my horse over, I waved a greeting to them. They nodded back.

"Welcome, Sir Joseph." one of the guards said to me.

"Hello there. I am looking to enter your town." I replied.

"You are allowed to enter and leave as you please." the knight said. "Though, if I may ask, why did you leave Blockfield? Has something happened?" I nodded and jumped off my horse, going through my inventory to pull out a lead to tie the horse with.

"I'm sure you may have heard the news already... about there being a Wither." I said as I was tying the horse up.

"I did not hear that? Where is it?" he asked.

"It... it attacked Blockfield. The village managed to survive under the attack, but it seems that other villages have been compromised. I'm on my way to Diamond City to get them to help out with the battle against the beast." I informed him.

"That's terrible... I shall inform the knight's watch immediately. Take care, Sir Joseph." he said to me. I nodded and responded with a thanks before heading off into the village, my steed right behind me.

Inside the village, I could see tons of houses and shops lining the gravel road. It was still early morning, so it wasn't filled with activity, but there were still a ton of people out and about. As I walked on, I looked into my inventory to find out what resources I was lacking.

I could see that I still had plenty of food, though my armor, sword, and shield had taken quite a beating. I needed to take them to an armory.

I looked around to see if there was a building somewhere that had an item frame with an anvil on it. I could see one further down the road and guided my horse as we approached it. Once we were there, I tied the horse to one of the fence posts that were supporting the building, then went inside.

The inside of the building was dimly lit and I could hear the clanging of a hammer against armor. As soon as I turned a corner, I could see a man working away on an iron chestplate against an anvil.

"Hello, I take it you are the blacksmith?" I spoke to him. He stopped his repairing and looked over at me.

"Well, who else would I be?" he replied with a grin.

"Yeah, I figured, hah." I chuckled a little to myself.

"Whadayaneed?" he asked as he lifted the chestplate up, looked at it, and put it away into a chest. I noticed that the hammer he had been using had been a part of a crafting table, which he had nearby.

"I would like for you to repair my armor and sword. Oh, and my shield, that too." I requested as I pulled out my weaponry and set it on the table in front of him. He spoke up as I was taking off my armor.

"Your sword seems not that badly damaged, it'll cost an emerald. Shield though, that's been beat up bad. Three emeralds." he informed as I set each armor piece on his table.

"Let's see," he picked up the individual armor pieces and examined them each. "Helmet seems hardly damaged, no repairs needed there. Chestplate though, it'll cost three emeralds. Leggings, they look only a little damaged, so that'll be one. These boots are somewhat damaged, that'll cost two emeralds." he counted. "Alright, I got it. This'll take a little while, so how about you go look at stores. I'd suggest the enchanting book store, since the equipment you're using is unenchanted."

"That sounds like a good idea, thank you." I responded.

"When you head out, just go left down the road a little ways, you should see the stand." he guided. I nodded and turned to head out.

I could see a few young children had taken notice of my horse and were watching her intently as they spoke. I smiled as I headed off to search for the enchanted book store that the blacksmith had suggested.

After a moment of searching, I found it, it was a stand on the street with a few bookshelves and a colorful banner. The person running the stand was an elderly man with glasses who held a buckled book that was enchanted. I approached him.

"Hello there, I was recommended here by the blacksmith." I told him. He looked at me with an excited look.

"Oh! A knight! How wonderful! What an honor it is to have you as a customer!" he called out, overly excited. "My enchantments may be expensive, but they can be very helpful when you're out on the battlefield. What enchantments are you looking for today?" he asked as he guided his hand over to a series of signs with prices on them.

"Hmm..." I put my hand to my chin and thought deeply. I had already decided that I wasn't interested in getting an armor enchantment. I wanted an enchantment for my sword, and maybe my shield if I could spend less than forty emeralds. A Sharpness enchantment would be great, but it costed twenty-five emeralds. Knockback wasn't really helpful when I had my horse to keep a good distance from the mobs, though it could be useful if I was separated from my steed for whatever reason. Fire Aspect was always nice, but it costed a good fifteen. Looting really didn't help me in anyway. Bane of Arthropods was nice, and it was much cheaper than Sharpness, but I never really had trouble fighting off spiders. Smite appealed a lot more, as hitting mobs like zombies and skeletons and their variants harder was a huge plus. Plus, it was also cheap. Sweeping-Edge could be nice, but it was very dependent on the user's own attack style, and so it didn't benefit me much. Mending and Unbreaking both appealed well, but only for my shield. They both costed eight emeralds.

"I think I'll take the books enchanted with Smite, Fire Aspect, and Mending." I told him.

"Would you like them all one the same book?" he asked.

"Smite and Fire Aspect, yes. Mending I would like by itself." I requested. He nodded and turned back to go through his chest before pulling out two enchanted books.

"Smite will cost you ten. The Fire Aspect with it will cost fifteen. And then the Mending will be an additional eight. In total, that comes down to thirty-three emeralds, with the added cost of two, since two of the enchantments are combined. So, the price is thirty-five." he counted. I went through my inventory and pulled out a stack of emeralds, counting carefully so I could get the right amount. Then, I put away twenty-nine emeralds and handed the currency off to him in exchange for the enchanted books. "Have a wonderful day!" the old man told me.

"You too." I replied and turned to head back towards the blacksmith.

As I was making my way back, I caught sight of something in an alley out of the corner of my eye. It was a man. He wore a red cape, and he was waving at me, gesturing for me to follow him. Then, he disappeared into the alley. He looked familiar, and I thought to myself for a moment before I realized who he was.

"No way..." I said to myself as I put my books away and followed him.


	14. An Old Pal

**Fun Fact: Minecraftians' clothes are different from our own. While we can voluntarily select our own clothing, they cannot, at least not as easily. Their clothes are created the moment they spawn and are colored and designed based on what their predicted intellectual level will be and what their personality traits are. For example, if a person born has a small chance to be intelligent later in life, their clothes will be very bland and often only one or two colors. If they are easily angered to the point that it becomes a key personality trait, their clothes will most likely be red. This doesn't mean that smart people can't spawn very bland clothes and vice versa, however. And in rare situations, the color of a person's clothing will be entirely random. And as they mature and age, their clothing changes as well. However, this does not mean they cannot remove their clothes. They can, but if they do so and do not keep their train of thought that allows them to keep ahold of the outer layer, they are unable to put them back on. The reason for this is because clothes from a technical perspective are a physical part of their models, more specifically they make up the outer layer of a person's body. The person is able to 'remove' this outer layer when he or she is washing themself, then put the clothed layer back on. There is no instance where a person was ever able to replace their clothes, and if a person loses their clothing, they tend to wear leather armor until their bodies grow and spawn new clothes.**

The alleyway was dark, and it definitely seemed like a place where there had been some shifty dealings done here. I turned the corner and saw him with his back to the wall, looking at me.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, old pal?" the man said, flashing me a look. I could see the features of his face. One thing that stood out from others was that his eyes were different colors, one green and one red. Another unique feature of his were his black eyebrows, which stood out when his hair was brown. His red cape hung behind him, draped against the wall.

"It sure has... brother." I replied, my guard up. "What're you doing here?" I asked him.

"I have my reasons for being in Victorian as well as you. I prefer not to go into them." he responded. "So, how have you been? I mean with the whole _starting-a-new-life_ thing? People still recognize you for what you did, they still worship you as a hero. It isn't what you wanted." he pointed out.

"I didn't expect that people would forget about what I did. That's why I moved away to Blockfield, where life is still relatively simple and the people there are unaware of what goes on around the Overworld." I explained.

"Sounds like the thoughts of a person in denial of themselves." Lucian chastised.

"I'm not here to discuss life decisions with you." I said. "I want to know what you did."

"What do you mean?" he responded, raising his hands up as he smiled innocently. "I'm not doing anything."

"Don't play dumb with me. I saw the Wither firsthand. I know you have something to do with it." I said.

"Well, maybe I had something to do with it. Maybe I didn't. One thing's for sure, this monster's going to change the way the world works." he replied.

"Lucian, this whole idea that the world is corrupt and needs to be destroyed is wrong." I told him with a glaring look.

"I don't believe that the world needs to be destroyed, just the monsters that inhabit it. And all of the zombies, creepers, spiders, and skeletons below us aren't the only monsters that exist." he said.

"What do you want?" I asked him, reaching for my sword, only to quickly realize that I had left it at the blacksmith's.

"I just wanted to have a nice chat with my little brother. We never get to talk nowadays." he replied, noticing my instinctive action and scowling.

"Yeah, getting yourself banished from Diamond City's council does that to you. I'm not interested in talking to you anymore, not after what you did." I told him, then turned to walk out of the alley.

"Joseph, the world is about to change. That Wither is the very incarnation of death. Almost every village that it attacks is reduced to rubble and particles. You'll need to decide whose side you're going to be on. The path that leads to enlightenment, or the path that leads to destruction. The choice is yours." he said. I stopped and turned my head to the side.

"If I find out that it was you that went to the Nether to create that Wither that nearly destroyed my home and killed my family, I will-"

"You will what? You didn't have the blocks to kill me when you had the chance. What will you do now?" he challenged.

"I will make sure you'll never get to see the sun again." I promised him as I walked out of the alley and headed towards the blacksmith.

I used to admire my older brother when we were children. But one day, he just... changed. He became cynical towards others, and he would constantly go on about how much he wanted to see the world burn. He then began to lose his mind to his own cynicism.

I saw that one of the children by my steed was trying to jump onto her, and she wasn't happy about it.

"Hey, don't do that." I told him and the child quickly jumped off. I made my way into the building to see the smith.

He was done with all my items, and as soon as he saw me, he went through his chest and begin pulling them all out, handing them to me one-by-one.

"That'll be ten emeralds for all of them." he said and I paid him.

"Thanks, now I need you to hammer these enchantments into my sword and shield." I requested as I pulled out my enchanted books.

"These? You want me to put enchantments on an iron sword?" he asked, to which I nodded. "Not much point in enchanting an iron sword unless you plan to put Mending or Unbreaking onto it. Too fragile."

"Well, I want the Mending for my shield." I explained. He turned and gave me a look.

"Tell you what, my brother's got diamond weapons. He'll give you a diamond sword to enchant and you and him can discuss the price. How about it?" he offered.

"Hmm, I guess I'll take it. But I would like to sell my sword then." I replied.

"Sure, we do that. In the meantime, why don't you give me your shield and I'll begin hammering Mending onto it?" he asked and I handed him my shield and the Mending enchanted book. He took them and put them onto his anvil. "My brother'll be here in just a moment-" he turned to the side and yelled his brother's name, which was Charlie. I heard a yell in reply. The blacksmith looked back at my shield and whistled.

"Gotta say, compared to most other shields I have to fix, yours looks pretty nice with its design." he praised as he began to hammer away at it with the book on top.

"Thanks, it was crafted by my father, who used to be a knight appointed by the Knight's Watch in Diamond City many years ago." I explained. The shield was emblazoned with four colors on each side, all separated by two black lines. The colors were red, white, green, and blue, and supposedly represented the four groups of people that inhabited the Overworld before another city, Blockholm, rose up between the four and unified them. The way it happened shouldn't have worked, but somehow, it had, through the actions of a person said to have saved the world at some point. Apparently, the black lines represented how the groups were segregated from one another and often treated each other with hostility. The shield design was customary back before the war from what I heard, but after the war, they were no longer the standard design, and production had stopped on crafting shields with the design. My father was a historical fanatic and took a long time to figure out how to craft it perfectly. He could have had help from reliable sources to craft it, but he wanted to make it himself. It had costed him a lot of emeralds, time, and shields to get it right and since he passed, it's been sort of our family heirloom.

"Your father, eh?" he replied. "So, I take it that knighthood runs in your codes?" I nodded.

"My father-" I hesitated. "Well, my family comes from a long line of serving the high kingdoms. I'm hoping one day my son will take up the coat of arms and become a knight, though my wife's hoping he becomes a builder." I chuckled. Just then, another muscular man came in. He wore a spotted bandanna and had an impressive beard. If I didn't know better, I'd say he looked like an outlaw of some sort, however, an outlaw wouldn't be living in one of the villages closest to the Cities.

"What is it?" the man asked. The blacksmith pointed to me.

"This man wants to sell his iron sword and buy a diamond sword." he explained, then continued hammering away.

"Nice to meet you, the name's Charlie. I'm the weapons smith." he greeted as he held his hand out, to which I shook with my own.

"I'm Joseph, nice to meet you too." Then, I brought out my iron sword. He took it and brought out several emeralds.

"I'll pay you five emeralds for an undamaged iron sword." he said and handed the gems to me. Then, he put away the sword and pulled out a gleaming blue diamond sword.

"I forged this one just this morning. The diamonds are fresh from the mines of Mount Craft, over two thousand chunks to the northwest. A high quality diamond sword that stands out even among other diamond swords." He held it up for me to admire.

"But did the diamonds go through the purity exam in Red City?" I asked as I examined the shine of the diamond blade. He nodded.

"They were tested to be eighty percent pure." he informed.

"Damn!" I stammered as I stared at the dark blue hilt. Eighty percent pure diamonds were incredibly rare. Most diamonds were around sixty percent pure.

"The wood is crafted from the dark oak woods of Firstloon Forest." he explained.

"Wow, really high quality wood." I muttered in awe as I felt the blade.

"Yeah. It's quite nice to see a fellow weaponry connoisseur." he said with a grin. "The price is twenty emeralds, no more and no less."

"Oh, I'll take it." I replied as I forked over the emeralds in exchange for the diamond weapon. He handed it over to me and I felt its grip in my hand. It felt perfect.

"A pleasure doing business with you." the weapons smith said as he turned to go back to his workroom. I held the weapon and swung it around a little. I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have such a high quality sword. I felt so giddy, like a child when they figure out a new crafting recipe.

"Alright, your shield now has Mending on it." the blacksmith said as he stopped hammering and turned to me. "Now, give me the sword and I'll begin hammering the enchantments onto it." I composed myself and handed him the second book with the diamond sword. He gave me the shield and began working on my sword.

As I was putting the shield into my inventory, I heard a cry of alarm coming from outside. The blacksmith stopped his hammering and looked up in frustration.

"Damn kids yelling. I can't concentrate with that squabbling. Joseph, be a pal and quiet those children, will ya?" he asked, but I was already running outside. There were dozens of civilians standing on the sides of the street, watching what chaos was unfolding with horrified expressions.

I could see my horse was panicking as three children were trying desperately to hang on. The horse was no longer tied to the fence, one of those kids must've undone the lead. I picked the lead off the ground and put it away as I quickly ran up to my horse and stood in front of her, trying to get her to see me, but she raised onto her hind legs. I tried to calm her, but then a hoof came down and struck me on the cheek. I was instantly knocked to the ground and cried out in pain as my body flashed red from the blow. Everything was blurry for what felt like a while, but then my vision soon returned. My cheek hurt like hell, but I got back up and ran to the side of my horse. I pulled one of the children off her back and set him on the ground. He ran off the moment he touched ground, and I hurried to the other side of her, then grabbed a girl and pulled her off.

My horse went to a charge and ran towards the entrance of the village. Realizing that time was running out, I pulled out my lead and quickly threw it towards the horse as fast as possible. The rope flew through the air until it connected to the horse a chunk away, and I planted my feet to the ground and pushed my body back. Immediately, the horse began pushing me forward, but I went low to the ground with my feet buried in the gravel road, straining to keep the horse from fleeing out from the village.

After a few moments, the horse fell over sideways and I immediately got to my feet and ran over to my horse and the child.

"Are you okay?" I asked the boy as I helped him off the horse's back.

"I... I'm okay..." the boy muttered, and I heard him begin to sob.

"It's okay, there's nothing to be scared of now..." I told him as I held him in my arms and patted him on the back gently. A woman that I assumed was his mother came over and took him from my arms.

"Philly, are you okay?" she asked as she held him. The boy wasn't sobbing as much as he was during the initial realization at what happened.

"I'm fine, Mom..." he murmured.

"Thank god..." the mother sighed in relief, then turned to me. "Thank you so much for saving my boy. You're a hero."

"No problem ma'am, it's what a knight's supposed to do." I replied with a smile as I brought my horse back to her feet. I pulled out an apple and let her eat it out of my hands to calm her down.

"Just make sure he learns from what happened. Horses are fun and cool and all, but they also can be very easily spooked. Now you know how scary a terrified horse can be. Just be careful from now on." I explained to the little boy.

I guided my horse back over to the blacksmith, ignoring the cheering of the bystanders all around as I tied the horse once again and went back into the building.

The blacksmith was looking at me with a funny look on his face.

"A hero, eh?" he said. I shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm just a knight doing his job." I replied.

"I'll say." he responded as he went back through his chest and pulled out my sword, now glowing with a purple hue. "Here you go. A diamond sword with Fire Aspect and Smite. That'll be four emeralds." I pulled out four emeralds and handed them to the blacksmith in exchange for my new high-quality enchanted diamond sword.

"Have a good day, Mr. Hero. And, take care of that uh..." the smith said as he pointed at his cheek.

"Oh!" I realized and rubbed the bruise. It still hurt like hell when I touched it and must've been discolored and very noticeable. "Um hey, actually, do you know where the minecart system in this village is?" I asked him. He looked at me for a moment, thinking to himself before responding.

"You're gonna wanna head to the center of town, then make a right. A few houses down, there should be the underground entrance into the mineshafts where the rail system is. However, they're closed for a couple more days while the track builders find a place in the tracks that was destroyed a few days ago. You might wanna stay in the local inn for the day." I cursed to myself.

"Alright, I'll do that." I responded.

"The inn is the first building on the left of the center fountain, you can't miss it." he informed.

"Alright, thanks." I said as I walked out of the building.

I untied my horse from the fence post and guided her to the local inn, tying her to the fence post nearby and heading inside to sign in to a room. This was gonna take a while.


	15. A New Friend

**Fun Fact: There is a very rare type of human that is capable of crafting things beyond what the game itself allows. This type of human is called a Crafter. They are able to craft unique objects that can't be crafted and shouldn't normally exist within the game, such as backpacks and necklaces. They are also the reason that once the world has upgraded to a new update, the crafting recipes that are now unlocked are quickly discovered by the rest of the species. It is rumored that the hero of light was a Crafter...**

It was the very next day. After asking people around the inn about the village, I had learned there was a training center for knights to test themselves against each other. And so, I headed straight there to pass the time.

Once I entered the building, I could see two knights fighting in the center of the room, with several others standing behind fences cheering them on. Everyone was donning full iron armor. One of the knights fighting was clearly winning the battle, as I could tell the other was struggling to keep up and was on the defense. As the first knight swung their sword, the second took the hit and swung back, but the first deflected the swing with their shield, then thrust their sword onto the chestplate of the second, knocking them back onto the ground where they lay exhausted. The knights cheered for the victor, and they removed their helmet, revealing a young female face with short hair panting as she looked at the crowd with a confident grin. She raised her arms with the helmet in one of them and a shield in the other and began to shout.

"Who else wants some?" she hollered. Feeling both eager and confident, I took off my helmet and stepped into the room.

"I'd like to try." I said to her. She noticed me and retained her confident look.

"Very well, good luck to you..." she said as she raised her sword and swung it at me. I bashed my shield against the blow, knocking her back and stunning the knight before going for an attack of my own, swinging my new diamond weapon at the female warrior, but she wasn't as stunned as she let me believe. She blocked the attack with her own shield and retaliated with a slash upwards, taking me by surprise and knocking me to the ground with a grunt.

I brought weight to my legs as I lifted them up, then brought them down to jump and stand back up. I charged at her with my shield in front of me and bashed against her own, knocking her back off-balance before thrusting my sword at her chestplate, causing her to flash a light shade of red as she took the hit. I could hear the crowd of knight cheering us both on and she shook off the pain.

"Huh, you're not bad." she complimented. She was probably trying to distract me so she could land a hit, but I wasn't going to let that happen.

"Why, thank you. You're not so bad yourself." I returned, keeping my shield up. She swung her sword to my left and rammed it against my shield, then knocked it away as she swung down at me and I quickly went into a roll to the side, dodging the attack. Then, I had an idea. If her shield wasn't enchanted, and it didn't look to be, then I could whittle away at its durability while she wouldn't notice until it broke, though that would be if this battle would last for a long time. I swung my sword at her shield, which wasn't effective as I had thought. She jumped back and I raised my shield as she charged forward, jumped up, and brought her sword down onto my shield. The force of the attack hurt my shield arm, and I had trouble moving my shield around as she jumped to my side and swung. I took one hit, but managed to move away in time for my shield arm to recover.

I ran at her again, but she must've known what I was planning to do, because she moved out of the way of my charge. She swung her sword, but I returned with my own, and we went face-to-face with our weapons crossed with a loud clank. We engaged in a strength stalemate until I was able to put all my effort into my arm, and I managed to overpower her and push her back. Then, I struck her with my weapon and knocked her back onto the ground, defeated. All the warriors around us hollered at the victory as she looked up at me with a look of shock. I held my arm down for her to grasp and then lifted her to her feet.

"Well then, consider me impressed, newcomer." she said. "You really know your swordsmanship."

"Thanks. You were pretty good too." I praised. My stomach growled through my armor as I looked down at it.

"Anyways, I'm gonna head out and get a bite to eat. Have a good day." I told her as I headed out of the training center and looked for the cafe.

Once I had found the cafe, I removed all my armor and stuffed it into my inventory. Now was a time to relax.

As I entered the cafe, there were a bunch of people sitting at different seats. I could tell there were a lot of families. I went over to the counter and ordered a cooked steak and some bread. The waiter promised to have it ready any moment and I sat down at an empty booth and pulled out the map I had been given last night in the inn.

I had traveled roughly two hundred chunks to make it to Victorian Village, which meant I still had a good eight hundred left to go. Unfortunately, with the rail system not working yet, it looked like I was going to be taking more than a week. Hopefully Maria and David wouldn't worry too much. I was still concerned about leaving the village when it had just been attacked by that Wither, but Commander Cole had assured me that he would see to it that Blockfield would prioritize military security right after everything was rebuilt. I was also concerned that by choosing to wait for the rail system to get fixed, I was wasting more time than if I had chosen to ride my horse the whole way, but I reminded myself that by using the minecarts, I would make much more progress than on horseback.

"Hello there." a female voice greeted me. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up from my map to see a woman looking down at me. She wore mostly purple clothes and had short hair, as well as an experienced look in her eyes.

"Wait, aren't you the woman I dueled with in the training center just now?" I asked, and she nodded.

"You must be Sir Joseph, the knight that went to the End and slayed the mighty enderdragon-"

"Shhh!" I hushed her, looking around. Fortunately, no one was paying us attention. "I don't want people to know it's me." I told her. She had a confused look in her eyes, but straightened her expression.

"I recognize your face. You're in some of our study books. Mind if I sit down?" she asked. I sighed with annoyance. It was only a matter of time before people would start to recognize me again.

"If you aren't trying to hook up with me, sure. Because I'm already married." I explained to her, looking back at my map.

"That-uh, that's not what I-" she stammered, her face flushed red, then sat down in front of me. "Look, I just have some questions I want to ask you. You seem to be a seasoned veteran. And I happen to look up to you a lot." she said. I sighed and looked back at her.

"Alright, let's get through this interview then. What do you want to know?" I asked.

"Well, I'm a bit curious as to why you don't want people to know who you are. Wasn't that the reason you set out to slay the beast?" she questioned.

"It was... in the beginning. I just came to realize that worldwide fame and popularity isn't as great as it is made out to be. After the enderdragon's death, I returned to the Overworld, went up to DC's council, and requested to be retired as a veteran knight and to be granted a certificate to let me move to and live in Blockfield." I explained to her.

"Does anyone in Blockfield know who you are?" she asked.

"Only a few people. The mayor, my wife, and our military leader do. No one else, and I want to keep it that way-" Just then, the waiter came by with our food. He set them on the table with a bottle of water and a bottle of honey. I took a bite out of the seared steak and thanked the waiter as he headed off. It was delicious, fresh from the smoker. She took a bite from a porkchop she had ordered.

"By the way, I never got to know your name." I pointed out.

"My name's Destiny." she answered.

"Destiny..." I said with a mouthful of food before swallowing. "Nice name."

"Thanks. You're, uh, quite a messy eater..." she noted.

"Hey, if my mouth full of food turns away the paparazzi, then I'll be as obnoxious as I can. Take it from me, kid, popularity isn't all that fun. Stay young, stay humble." I told her.

"Hey, I'm not a kid, I'm twenty-one!" she protested.

"You're still young. You may think you've seen everything that this world has to show, but you're only mining the surface." I explained to her. "I'm in my mid-forties and I'm still seeing new things."

"Anyways, time to drop a bombshell. We're siblings." she responded, changing the subject. I stopped myself and looked at her.

"Excuse me?" I replied.

"Yeah, well, our sister is Astrid, the leader of Diamond Kingdom." she revealed. I gave her a strange look.

"I would know you if you were my sister." I told her.

"According to my sister, you had left on your journey shortly before I had spawned." she explained. "But yeah, not many people know me as much as you, Astrid, or even Lucian." She held her hands up, "I guess I'm just that person that joined the party late." I held my hand to my chin and thought deeply. I could faintly remember my parents mentioning plans to spawn another child before I had left. Of course, once I left, I wouldn't return to DC for years until I came back to request for a certificate to live in Blockfield, and I didn't even stop by to say hello to my family, which I realized was a mistake.

"That's why I hope to one day become like you. You were once overshadowed by your older brother before you defeated the enderdragon, and became famous. I want to do the same." she said.

"Yeah, I don't care for my brother one bit. Not after what he did to Dad." I said, thinking back to my encounter with him yesterday as I finished off the steak and moved on to the bread.

"Sorry if I brought up bad memories." she apologized, then looked at my map. "So, where are you headed?"

"Back to Diamond City to request for assistance. You may or may not know this, but a few days ago, Blockfield was attacked by a Wither." I told her. She nodded.

"I heard, all the knights here know and are on guard. If that Wither comes close to Victorian, then it's going to be met with very heavy resistance." she assured as she took a bite of her apple. "You know there are rumors that this Wither is unlike the one that began the Desolation War a hundred or so years ago. This one's supposedly intelligent."

"Really?" I said as I took another bite.

"Yeah. I'm not sure about the validity of them, but supposedly when the miners went to take a look at the rail systems between Victorian and the Diamond Kingdom, they found a heavy amount of damage that indicates that it wasn't a random creeper explosion. Some people think that the Wither is deliberately breaking through the ground to search for these rail tracks and destroy them before attacking." she informed.

"That's... alarming to say the least." I replied, taking a moment to think. "But at the end of the day, it's just a rumor. We can't just go accepting these stories as fact just because they look like they _might _be valid based on circumstantial evidence." She nodded vigorously.

"And I agree completely. It's a scary thought that this Wither might be more intelligent, but all it really is is just some rumor." she responded.

"It is an interesting theory though, because when the Wither attacked my village, it ran away when its health was low. As far as I know, Withers don't normally care about how much health they have, they always fight to the death. So, the fact that this one had the desire to stay alive and flee is interesting to say the least." I replied.

"Yeah, that is strange to hear about." she said. "But then again, we don't really know much about what Withers are really like. After all, no one's ever really tested them."

"Oh yeah, those things are vicious in containment. Not even obsidian can stop them from breaking out." I replied. "Evil bastards." After a moment of eating, I changed the subject.

"Now, I would like to know more about you." I told her. "Why are you here? What made you decide to move out of DC?"

"Well, it was clear I was never going to outshine Astrid when she was the leader, so I looked towards you and learned about what you did to become famous, and so I decided to move out and start fresh. I figured that instead of fighting the enderdragon though, like you did, I'd try to fight the Wither." Destiny replied.

"Oh, so you're hoping to slay this Wither?" I said, surprise in my voice. She nodded.

"It'll be a really tough battle, but the next time I see it, I'm going to kill it." she promised.

"Honestly, I don't think you'd be able to do it." I said to her. Her face changed to an angered expression.

"What do you mean?" she argued.

"Well, I was able to defeat you when we dueled. Remember, the Wither is a boss mob. If you encounter it and anger it, it will fight you with everything it has and it won't let up. I watched as our village iron golem fought against it, and the golem didn't stand a chance. And when our knights fought against it, the Wither took them out one-by-one until most of our guard was reduced to particles. When I fought against the enderdragon, it nearly killed me several times. The only reason I was able to survive is because I had a ton of golden apples and enderpearls. But with the Wither, it's raw firepower, it won't give you the time to heal, it won't let you run away. The Wither is created to give no mercy. It's a monster that exists to destroy. There's a reason people call it the bringer of death." I told her and noticed her body shudder from trepidation.

"Yeah, but..." Destiny had no words to say.

"Look, I'll tell you what. I think you've got potential to be a really good hero. If you're okay with it, you can join me as I head over to DC. I'll teach you what I know, and we'll work together to find a way to stop the Wither." I offered her. She thought for a moment.

"Okay, sure. Let's do it." she said. I picked up my bottle of water and took a long drink from it before finishing it off.

"Excellent." I exclaimed as I finished off my bread and waited for her to finish her food. I pocketed away the bottle of honey for later consumption. Honey was a rare delicacy that I never had the privilege of enjoying back at Blockfield.

Once we were done, I pulled out four emeralds and left them on the table for the waiter as we headed out.

**There we go. Joseph now has a new companion. I wonder how his wife would react lmao(without any context). Anyways, feel free to leave a review. I'd love to see how people feel about Joseph's character, and I haven't been getting many reviews. It always feels good to get someone's honest thoughts about my story, and it's very motivating for a writer. It encourages them to write more, which in turn can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes to make a chapter.**


	16. Delayed Services

**Just a heads up guys, I've decided to change the name of Joseph's companion from Hope to Destiny. This was because I don't want people thinking Hope is supposed to represent something in the story, her name was just supposed to be a nod to the theme that this series largely focuses on. Just wanted to let you guys know since she is referred in this chapter by her new name.**

We entered the rail station. I saw the two workers at the counter, looking bored.

"Hello guys." I greeted them. "Remember me from yesterday?" The less bored-looking one looked at me.

"Joseph, right?" he asked, to which I nodded.

"I just came to ask for an update regarding the rail system and when it will be available to the public again." I replied.

"Fortunately, we've received an update. Turns out that the problem's been discovered. There were a series of large explosions around the midway point between Victorian and Diamond City. It'll probably take another three days to fix it and-"

"Three days!?" I stammered. "Are you kidding me? I need to go to Diamond City immediately. Where's the pressure?" I questioned him. He raised his hands up helplessly.

"I'm sorry Joseph, there's not much I can do on our end. It's all on Diamond City's end, and you know how they typically take their time to fix these problems." he responded sheepishly.

"There's gotta be something you can do." I stammered. He shrugged.

"Sorry. All I can recommend to you is that you go the distance yourself if you really don't have time." he said. I struggled to contain my frustration in.

"Okay then... Have a nice day." I said to him, then stormed out of the station, Destiny followed behind me.

Once outside the building, I slammed my fist against the cobblestone wall and yelled out in anger.

"I just wasted a day waiting, and now I'm going to have to wait three more!" I growled, looking down at the ground as I cursed.

"I think we need to head out on horseback." Destiny suggested.

"If we head out on horseback, it might take longer. We'll have to fight through hordes of mobs, and that wastes time when we could just zip right by underground." I explained while staring at the wall.

"Well, is it worth the wait? Because that Wither could be terrorizing some town right now." she reminded. After a moment of thinking, I sighed and looked up at her.

"I hope you have a horse, because we're going to head off." I told her. She nodded.

"I do. Let me go and get him while you get yours, and we'll meet up at the entrance of the village to the north." she said. I nodded back.

"Good idea." I replied and we split up.

I ran back over to the inn and approached my horse, tapping her lightly on the back and letting her see me.

"Hey girl." I said to her as I worked to undo the lead tying her to the pole. "Looks like our adventure isn't over yet." I said as I hopped on to her back. She grunted and I swung the reins, guiding her to turn north and walk ahead slowly.

We were soon joined by Destiny and her own horse, a caramel-brown horse with a mane as dark as cocoa.

"Nice horse." she commented.

"Thanks, you have a good taste in selection as well." I replied. We rode our steeds to the entrance, and I waved the guards as we headed out. I pulled out the map and looked at it. We were still a good eight hundred chunks away from the Diamond City border. It had taken me a whole day to make it to Victorian from Blockfield, so presumably it would take me another four more days to reach our destination. That was assuming that there weren't any forests or mountains or swamps, or any other biomes that would be difficult to traverse.

I glanced up at the sun. It was leaning towards the horizon. Pretty soon, it would be night. And then, the mobs would begin to spawn, making traveling even harder. Overall, the next several days were going to be very difficult. I swung my reins forward, and my horse began to take off, followed quickly by Destiny's horse.

**And so, Joseph's journey began once more. Now, I know what you guys are probably saying. This chapter was very short even by my own standards, and I should've included it with the last chapter. It's just that once I posted the last chapter, I thought about writing more, but I couldn't come up with more to write about than what I already had, and by then some people were reading it, so I just decided I would upload it by itself. I won't take as long to upload the next chapter, though I've decided that I need to rework the way I do schedules with each chapter. I hope you guys are excited, because up next is David's POV.**


	17. Welcome to Stonewall Village

**Fun Fact: If you've paid attention to the story, you probably remember that the Pig Festival was approaching. The Pig Festival is in celebration of Pig Day, a Minecraftian holiday to respect pigs as a food source. The origins of Pig Day date back to**** the era of the hero of light, in which the hero had a pig companion that went with him on his quest to save the world. There are many other holidays that the Minecraftians celebrate, such as K****ärlek, which is an event spanning a month where couples begin their romantic relationships, propose to each other, spawn children, etc. There's also Christmas, which actually is different from the physical world's version. Instead of being about Santa, presents, Christ, and all that other fun stuff, Christmas is more like New Years for Minecraftians, in that the time where chests change into presents where what allowed mankind to begin counting years and months. Before then, Minecraftians could only count the days using the moon. The chests stay presents for a span of approximately 96 days before reverting to chests. It's mainly about celebrating friends and family(and okay, also about getting presents). Those are just some of the holidays that the Minecraftians celebrate, and ironically, many holidays actually span weeks and even months rather than days.**

_**David's POV**_

I wasn't sure how much longer we could keep this up. We had been traveling nonstop over the past three days, only stopping to wait out the night in a cave. We were tired, and I wasn't sure how much further we could go at this pace. My feet were aching, and I could barely keep moving. Andy had already fallen down once this morning. It was almost nighttime, we would need to set up base real soon. We didn't speak to each other all day, there wasn't anything else to say. We were just focused on moving north. And as the sun began to sink below the horizon, I finally saw what appeared to be a large settlement far off in the distance. The settlement appeared to be surrounded by massive cobblestone walls, but I could see a large open gate at the front.

"Guys! I think I see Stonewall Village!" I exclaimed and pointed. My friends looked up and joy spread on their faces.

"That's awesome! We finally made it!" Emma said happily.

"Let's go, we need to hurry before the monsters appear." Andy replied. We started to pick up the pace.

As we approached the entrance, I heard what sounded like pistons shifting as the top of the gate began to fall down. Realizing that the gate was closing for the night, I urged my friends to rush faster.

As the gate was moving closer to the ground, I ran under it, followed by Emma and then Andy, who jumped through just before the gate reached the ground with a great thud. I sighed in relief and turned to look around at the massive village. It was now nighttime, so hardly anyone was out aside from children heading home with their parents and a squad of knights in full iron armor.

"We did it guys..." I stammered.

"I'm... so tired..." Emma muttered.

"Me too..." I said as my vision clouded up. "I think I'm just going to lie down and..." was the last thing I said as I thought I saw a small boy and his parent running over towards us before passing out.

_I dreamed that I was listening to the conversation between two voices._

_"I see that our new hero is beginning to grow..." the first voice mused._

_"Yes, it is quite inspiring to see a youth blossom..." the second replied._

_"Little does he know, however, that he will have to make great sacrifices to become the hero the humans need..."_

_"Ah yes, I believe that the hero of light has already informed him of that..."_

_"He may be aware of it, but he remains unaware of the true consequences of his actions..."_

_"To see tales of heroes of the past, and to see how different they are from each other... truly fascinating, I'm sure someone's making a story of some of them..."_

_"But regardless, I'm sure they must be contemplating the reason they have been brought here..."_

_"Of course... Allow me not to explain, but to hint at the reason so as to not ruin their path..."_

_"Go ahead..."_

_"A great evil builds below the ground of his world, a vast darkness that was thought to have been vanquished by the hero of light..."_

_"Yes, and it will not be stopped by mere laws of life or death, for it is beyond both..."_

_"These same things we told to the hero of light before he cast his light onto the darkness and defeated it, however, it never died..."_

_"To truly slay an entity of such chaos, the hero would need to have an unbreakable will and an incorruptible heart..."_

_"And only then can peace be restored fully to the world of Minecraftia..."_

_"Take care, youthful one, for the path that has been set out for you will be unlike that of any other hero..."_

_"Take care... become the best of heroes and continue the path of erasing the Dark One..." And with that, the dream faded away._

I woke up on a bed in a large room of someone's house. It looked like a living room. I could see Emma and Andy on two other beds right next to mine, soundly asleep. There was a campfire blazing in a chimney over at the far end of the room, casting an orange light across the room. I groaned and lifted myself to sit up. My head hurt, but my body wasn't sore anymore. Just then, a small boy came out of one of the rooms and noticed me looking at him. His face became filled with concern as he called for his mom and stood there, watching me.

I groaned and looked around the room, my mind still very fuzzy. There seemed to be a large table near the fireplace, and there were several seats around it. I could see out the windows that it was still dark. How long had I been out? Just then, the mother appeared and noticed I was awake and came over.

"Well, you're finally awake." she said with a warm smile on her face. I just looked at her, confused. "You must've been traveling for a long time. You've been asleep all day and night since yesterday."

"What... happened? Where am I?" I asked as I watched the fire burn in the fireplace, trying hard to remember everything that had happened.

"My son found you and your friends when you collapsed onto the ground. We brought you three here to let you rest. You're the first one to wake up." she explained as I slowly looked back at my friends, still asleep. I could remember making it into the village and then passing out from exhaustion.

"Do you kids have a mother or father?" she asked. I looked back at her.

"You can tell me tomorrow. Just get some sleep." she said with a smile. As she said that, I grew tired again and laid back down. Then, my eyes closed, and I fell asleep.

After I woke up, I realized that it was morning. I could see the mother and boy sitting at the table, enjoying their breakfast while Emma was talking to them. I looked to my side and saw that Andy was still sleeping in his bed. I sat up and the boy noticed me, which drew the attention of his mother.

"Good morning, youngster." she greeted. I groaned and pushed myself to get out of the bed, stretching my arms and legs wide and walked over to them. "Emily here was just telling me about that monster that had attacked your village."

"Good morning, David." Emma said to me.

"Good morning to you too." I said to her, then looked over at the small family. "You too." I noticed that the boy watched me as he lay in his mom's arms, like he was very shy. He looked younger than me, maybe six or seven years old.

"Oh, this is my son, Donald. He also goes by Donnie. He's a really shy boy, but really nice if you get to know him." she revealed.

"Me too..." I said, mostly to the boy.

"I think you two would get along real well then." the mother told me.

"We should head out soon." Emma said, a serious look on her face for the first time in a long time. "We're going to need to get to Diamond City real soon. As soon as Andy wakes up, we should go."

"I think you kids should stay here and let the adults handle it from here." the mother responded. "It's impressive you managed to make it from Blockfield all the way to here, but I fear that if you were to keep going, you wouldn't be able to survive the journey."

"But we can!" Emma protested. "David can protect us, he's gotten really good with using a sword!"

"Well, fortunately this town's about to have its annual tournament for children to show off their combat abilities. If you think he can do it, then why don't you have your friend sign in for the competition?" she suggested. "I can't let you kids go on a good conscience unless you can prove you can defend yourselves, especially after we found you passed out."

"Fine, where do we sign up!?" Emma asked.

"There are fliers outside at the lamp posts. They'll tell you where you can go." the mother informed. "Come back here before the tournament begins, though, and let me know if you need help with anything." Emma nodded and turned to me.

"Alright, David, let's go sign up for this thing!" she ordered with a determined voice as she grabbed me by my arm and dragged me wide-eyed out.

Once we were outside the house, Emma let go of me and turned to look at me.

"Alright, Mr. Hero, we gotta go do this thing so that mom will let us go." she said. While she looked for a lamp post, I noticed the bustling town around us.

The village had many people wandering around, entering and leaving houses and shops, and chatting to each other. There was a stable and within it I could see a ton of horses. I saw a few children around my age gathered around the wishing well in the center of town, making wishes and tossing gold nuggets into them. I could see a massive gathering of children in the fields practicing combat training as the huge school towered nearby. Overall, this place reminded me a lot of Blockfield, except it had a massive wall around it.

"There it is!" Emma exclaimed as she brought me over to a lamp post with a banner on it. "Let's see, '_a tournament for students to see who is the best swordsman of all... the winner gets a certificate for a free visit to the Diamond Kingdom to meet with some of the best knights in the Overworld... the winner can also invite friends with them... there is also a cash prize to the winner and the runner-up... competition starts the day after the full moon... sign in at the local school'_-there we go!" she pointed out.

"We need to go to the school and sign up there, let's hurry! I think last night was a full moon." she said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her.

"Hey, could you be a little less aggressive?!" I stammered, but she wasn't listening.

Once we made it to the school, we headed inside to see that the interior of the school was made with cobblestone, which took me by surprise. Our school was entirely made of wood, from inside and out. I wondered if this village was richer than ours, and that it could afford cobblestone interiors better. We went into the main hall, and there was a table set up on the side with all sorts of books and pages saying, _Join the Swordsman Competition NOW!_ There was a woman standing at the table, who greeted us with a smile.

"Hi there, is this where we sign up to join the competition?" Emma asked. I wondered how she managed to miss all the signs.

"Yes it is. Are you two looking to sign up?" she asked. We both nodded. "Wonderful, just sign in to the lectern right behind you." she said. We both turned around to see a strange decorative block I had never seen before. It looked to be made of wood and had an open book on top of it with an ink sac and a feather right by it. In the book was a series of names, and I took the feather and dabbed it with ink before writing my name into the book. Then, Emma did the same, writing her name in the book as well.

"You kids new to Stonewall?" the woman asked. "I don't recognize you from this district." Emma and I turned to look back at her, she had a smile, but I could tell she was suspicious of us.

"Oh yes, we came from out of town." Emma replied.

"I see, are your parents going to be watching?" I looked at Emma nervously. She realized that we couldn't tell her the truth.

"Erm... our parents are busy, but our aunt and uncle are going to watch. I can't wait to see the look on their faces when we win this competition!" she exclaimed, looking at me with anxiety.

"Who's your aunt and uncle, if I can ask? I might know them." she replied. I just realized that we never got the mother's name.

"Um, you probably wouldn't..." Emma responded nervously.

"Just tell me."

"I... uh-" she was interrupted as an adult man opened the doors and walked in.

"That would be me. I am the uncle of one of these children." the man said as he approached the woman. "Sorry, I knew I shouldn't have sent them alone. My name is Lucian." he said, and a shiver went down my spine. That name sounded familiar, and that voice was even more familiar. I realized how as I remembered the dream I had several days ago where I had been chased. I looked up at him and saw that he was wearing a red vest with a yellow shirt underneath and red cape with yellow borders. Then, I saw that one of his eyes were green, and the other was red. His eyebrows were black, while his hair was brown. He had on a confident smile on his face as he gazed at the lady. I shuddered, I had a dream about this person, how he declared he would tear down society before the Wither had appeared and attacked me. The woman stared back at him.

"I see... I don't recognize you from here though, do you have a certificate?" she asked and his face grew angry.

"Are you questioning that I live here? Maybe I should have you reported to the Educational Board Bureau?" the man threatened. She straightened herself.

"That wasn't what I-"

"Let these children go. I am the registered uncle of the boy, and the girl is his friend that I brought along for him." he explained. The woman sighed.

"Yes sir, you three can go ahead now." she said. "The competition will be held in the gym and will start at dusk. The gym is right next to the school building, on the left."

"Thank you, have a wonderful day ma'am." Lucian said with a smirk as he guided us out of the school. Once we were out, Emma quickly turned around and had a smile on her face as her eyes were closed.

"Thank you so much sir! We were really in a bind back there." she said. I looked back at him, he had that sinister grin on his face.

"No problem, children. Only a fool would turn a blind eye to children in need..." he responded.

"What do you want?" I asked him, trying not to show fear. He looked back at me with his creepy stare. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"I just wanted to let you join that competition. That woman was giving you a hard time, so I put her in her place." he replied, his voice filled with disdain. It shocked me the way he spoke about her with such disgust, acting as if she was less than a person to him.

"Why else?" I questioned, not giving him time to change the subject.

"Well, I have my own reason, but I prefer to wait and see how you kiddies will do in the tournament. Then, we can talk about more serious matters..." he said in a soft but creepy voice. "Why don't you two head on back to that mother and get ready for the competition." How had he known where we were staying? I looked at Emma and could see alarm on her face.

"How did you know-" I started before he interrupted me.

"Oh, I know all about you kids. Yes, the children from Blockfield that left at night to try and get help from the big shots at Diamond City after that Wither attacked and nearly destroyed your home town." My eyes widened with shock and I looked at Emma. She appeared just as surprised as I was. "How about you two head back and get ready. Then, after the competition, we can talk more..." he said, then walked off. We watched him in stunned silence for a moment before he disappeared behind a row of houses.

"That... was weird..." Emma muttered.

"I don't like this one bit..." I said.

"Let's go back and prepare... We can worry about whoever that guy is later..." she said. We headed off to go back to the mother's home.


	18. The Tournament

As we entered the house, the first thing that I noticed was that Andy was up from his bed, and was talking to the mother. He turned to see us as we went in.

"Emma, David, I'm glad you guys are here!" he said as he came to us. "I want to sign up for the tournament too!"

"No, I don't think you should..." I told him. After what had happened with Lucian, I wanted us to all stay together.

"I agree..." Emma said. His expression dropped.

"What happened?" he asked after seeing the looks on our faces.

"We met this creepy guy that must've been following us for a while." Emma informed. At this, the mother came forward.

"A creepy guy?" she said as she left her son sitting on the chair by the fireplace. "What did he do?"

"He helped us by pretending to be David's uncle when the sign-up lady was asking questions about us. Then, when we left the school, he said he wanted to talk to us after the competition and told us he knew all about us. He... he knew about the Wither attack, and he even knew when we left the village..." Emma said, her voice filled with anxiety. The mother had heavy concern in her eyes.

"Listen children, I don't want you to speak with that man again. If you see him, don't approach him, don't talk to him, and if he sees you, stay where people can see and hear you." she warned us. I remembered when my mom would give me the same warning about strangers. We both nodded in unison.

"Now then, what'd you kids learn about the competition?" she asked.

"Well, it's going to start in the gym-" I answered before Emma began speaking.

"And it's going to start this evening." she finished.

"Oh, so very soon then!" the woman pointed out. "I'd better get ready." She rushed to go through her chest right next to the fireplace and grabbed some food, handing a few watermelon slices to her son, who then ate one as he put the other slices into his pockets. "Alright, let's head out then."

She went out the door, and we all followed behind her, with me and her son in the back.

As we walked, I tried to make small talk with the small boy.

"Your mom's really nice." I told him. Donnie just looked back at me, and I could see that he was really nervous to be around me and my friends. "My mom's always telling me not to do bad things, and she gets upset whenever I do." I said. "Where's your dad though?" Upon asking that, he turned ahead and ran over to his mother. I wondered if that was a sensitive topic for him. Andy slowed to my pace.

"It sucks that I won't be joining in the tournament..." he said.

"Yeah, well that's okay. You won't be getting hit and hurt." I reminded him.

"I know, but..." he glanced at Emma, who was facing ahead. "She sure will be. I just feel bad..." I took a moment to think of the best response.

"Don't be. It'll probably be more important to her if you cheer her on in her battle." I assured him. I then realized that after all this time, we still didn't know the name of the mother that had been helping us this whole time.

"Excuse me!" I called to her and she looked back.

"Mhm?"

"Um, what's your name?" I asked her.

"My name is Hilda, but you kids can call me Ms. Grasslet." she told us. Ms. Grasslet... it was an interesting last name for sure.

We stopped in front of a large building that was even bigger than the school, which stood nearby. It must've been a gym. I realized that it was dusk, as the sun was nearly gone and the night sky shown. Ms. Grasslet opened the door for us and we all walked in one-by-one.

The interior was a wide-open room and looked huge. I could see that the floor looked to be made entirely of a kind of stone that looked white. I couldn't remember what the stone was called though. Standing at the entrance was an adult man that we went over to.

"Are all of these children participating?" the adult asked. Ms. Grasslet shook her head.

"The young gentleman with the brown hair is, and so is the girl." she told him. He looked down at us, then looked back at them.

"You will be sitting over at the seats where everyone else is sitting." he told them, pointing over at a large series of rows of seats stacked over each other at a slope where dozens of other people were sitting.

"Thank you. Good luck to you children." Ms. Grasslet said as she took Andy and Donnie with her over to the seats. The man looked down at us.

"Follow me, I'll bring you to where the other participants are waiting." he told us as he headed off towards a hall on the side of the gym. We looked at each other before following him.

The man led us into a room where there were a bunch of other kids our age.

"Alright kids, the competition will begin in just a moment." he hollered to them so they all could hear. "Time to get in place." he ordered. Then, he left the room. I noticed the eyes of a lot of them focused on me and Emily-not all, but most. There looked to be six other children. I immediately felt the pressure from their staring and wanted to crawl into a hole.

"Hello people!" Emma greeted, putting on a happy face. "I'm Emily, and this is my friend, David! We're from out of town, so we're not used to these kinds of competitions. I hope we can all enjoy this fun activity together!" she exclaimed, and I wanted to die from the awkwardness that followed. Just then, I heard the voice of an announcer in the gym and turned to look out the window. I couldn't see Lucian anywhere, which was good, but I wasn't certain he wasn't watching from somewhere hidden.

"Greetings, everyone!" the announcer boomed from a chamber at the top of the gym. I noticed that he was wearing light brown shades and wore a top hat. "Welcome to the tenth annual Swordskids Tournament! I am your host, Franklin Stonewall, and I am here to kick off the tournament!" The crowd of people in the chairs cheered. "But this isn't any ordinary tournament! It is the ten-year anniversary, and so, our elder has decided to join us and watch as the new generation battle it out! Give a cheer for Alex Stonewall!" he declared as he pointed to an old woman sitting at a grand chair. The woman had withered orange hair and was wearing a light green robe. She waved at the crowd and everyone cheered even more. As the announcer continued, I listened to the others.

"Oh wow, the elder's going to watch us?" one of the children gasped. Everyone was looking through the window.

"I can't believe she's here!" another stammered.

"Wait, who is she?" Emma asked one of the boys.

"Alex Stonewall. She was the founder of our town. They say that her brother is the one who ended the war so long ago." he explained.

"They also say that when the white-eyed villain was trying to kill everyone, she and her brother were the ones that stopped him..." another said.

"She's a hero, a real hero! They say she's older than anyone else, and that she's seen it all!" a third chimed in.

"Really? Wow..." I muttered as I watched her. A real hero that had saved the world, sitting only a few chunks from me...

"This is a competition to see who has the best potential to become a legendary knight! As always, there are doctors in case the fighting gets too intense, with potions at hand. But we always make sure that the fight doesn't go on more than what is healthy for the students!" he said with a smile. "Without further ado, let's send out our first two battlers!" Just then, everyone scrambled to go to various glass chambers.

"What's going on-" I said before one of them interrupted.

"Get ready!" they called out. Emma hurried and pulled me into one of the glass chambers before running to her own. Just then, I felt myself get lowered underground.

"What's going on?" I said to myself, hearing pistons moving under and around me. Then, the movement stopped, as I ended up in a narrow hallway that ended with a lit-up hole above. Nervously, I walked down the hall towards the end, and when I reached it, I heard a click as my foot pressed down against a stone pressure plate. Then, I heard the sounds of more pistons as I was pushed up until I was in the giant arena. I looked around, shocked, as another boy rose from the ground a chunk away from me.

"Our first two combatants have been chosen! Now, because we have eight participants this year, there will be exactly three rounds. Each round, the student that gets defeated will be disqualified while the student that wins will advance to the next round. This will continue until we have a final winner. Now, students, select your weapons and armor!" the announcer boomed as several chests popped up from the ground. The boy ran over to one of them, and I ran to another, opening it to see there was a leather chestplate and leather boots, along with a wooden sword. I grabbed everything and equipped the armor pieces as fast as I could.

As I was pulling my sword out, I noticed the other kid's wooden sword coming down at me and sidestepped the attack just in time, then raised my own and swung at him. The weapon struck the boy in the shoulder and he flashed red before jumping back. The announcer narrated what was happening, and I tuned him out. My opponent had a leather chestplate and leggings on him.

I swung again at him, and he dodged past the attack and retaliated with a swing to my waist. I couldn't get away in time and had to take the hit, flashing red as pain filled my body. He swung once more, but I was one step ahead. I used a method I had learned from the Spectral Hero and spun around to the side to avoid the attack and returned with a stab. The hit landed, and the boy was knocked back, though he steadily got back up. He ran at me with a determined yell and slashed his wooden sword down at me. I jumped to the side and went into a roll around him before kicking my legs up and swinging my weapon at his vulnerable back. My blade struck the weak point between his chestplate and leggings, and the two pieces fell apart as I landed. The boy was knocked forwards onto his belly and shouted, "I SURRENDER!" to which the announcer and the crowd cheered.

"And we have a winner! David Stonefield is victorious!" he declared. "Congratulations, you will be advancing to the second round! Now, please step back onto the platform and return to the competitor chambers until the second round has begun." I turned to see a stone platform in the ground and headed over to it, then was lowered back onto the level with the narrow hallway. I walked back down to the other end and was brought back into the room I had been before. I saw Emma waiting for me to come up, a huge smile on her face.

"Good job, David! I knew you could make it through the first round!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks." I said as I scratched the back of my head, feeling embarrassed but still smiling back.

The other students began to head into their glass chambers, and Emma followed suit, heading into her own.

"Wish me luck if it's my turn!" she requested. I nodded.

"I will!" Just then, I heard machinery as pistons began pushing down, and one of the other students was lowered down. Emma's then went down as well. It was her turn. "Good luck!" I hollered, hoping she heard. Then, I watched through the glass as she rose up into the arena room.

**Well that was intense. But I think we all knew David was going to win the first round, what with that special training he's getting. Anyways, I think I've decided that my schedule is going to remain inconsistent. It actually is a lot easier for me to stop writing for a week or two and then come back and write a few chapters back-to-back, so I'm gonna go with that. Be sure to leave a review and tell me what you think of this lil tournament arc!**


	19. Aaron

I watched as the announcer declared the match starting and Emma immediately ran for one of the chests. Once she opened it, she pulled out what appeared to be leather boots and leggings, then pulled out a wooden sword. I noticed the other kid, which was another girl, already equipping her leather chestplate and helmet before rushing at Emma with her own wooden sword. I wanted to holler at her to look out, but she saw and quickly stepped away from the other kid's slash. Then, she equipped her armor and swung her sword at them. The other kid stepped to the side, but she managed to hit her anyways, causing them to flash red as they were knocked back. She swung again, and they were hit again by the attack, but swung back at her, making her flash red as she was knocked back.

Emma swung her sword again as the other girl swung hers, and the two met with their swords pressing hard against each other. They struggled to overpower each other. But Emma managed to overpower her opponent and pushed them back.

"David?" a voice called out to me and I turned to look at the source, the same man that had brought us here. I raised my hand and he saw me and entered the room. He was holding bottles of a bright red drink that looked delicious. "You did good out there. Here is a healing potion for you to heal up for the second round." he said as he offered me one of them. I took it and drank from the bottle, feeling the red drink go into my body. The first thing I noticed was that the potion was really sweet. It tasted like watermelon, though it had a bit of a weird metallic taste to it as well. I really enjoyed the sweet part of it. Instantly, all the pain I had felt from that battle was disappearing.

"Thanks." I said to the man and he nodded as he took my bottle.

"Be sure to take care of yourself out there. Remember, winning isn't everything. If you are too hurt, don't be afraid to tap out." he suggested before leaving the room. I looked back at Emma and the other girl fighting. I could see Andy in the row of seats waving his hands and cheering for her.

Emma swung her sword at the girl one more time, and the girl was knocked back onto the ground where she called out her surrender. I shouted in joy, then noticed everyone's eyes were on me and felt embarrassed. The announcer declared Emma the winner and instructed her to keep her gear and head back to the stone platform while the other girl got up and went over to the seats and sat down, looking sad. As Emma went to the platform, it brought her underground, and within moments she reappeared in our room. I ran over to her.

"Good job, Emma!" I said, smiling. She returned my smile with her own.

"Thanks, David. It was a tough fight, but now I'm gonna be heading to the second round!" she exclaimed. I heard the announcer declare the next match to begin and the four remaining kids hurried to their own chambers. Two of the chambers lowered two of the kids, and a moment later they appeared on the gym floor. As the match started, the same man that had brought me a potion came in and called for Emma. Once he saw her, he came over and handed her a potion of healing, explaining what it was to her as she gulped the entire drink down. Then, she handed him the bottle and he took it and left the room.

"Yum, that was delicious!" she said, a huge smile planted across her face. "Now, I feel so much better." Just then, I heard a shout as the match was over. I was surprised, that was a quick match. One of the boys stood over the other. who was lying on the ground. The winner went over to the stone platform and went underground before reappearing in our chamber. Then, the remaining two kids went into the last two chambers, and they were brought onto the gym floor. As soon as the announcer gave the shout to start, they ran over to the chests and went through them.

I noticed a boy come over to us. It was the winner of the last fight. He looked to be a couple years older than me and looked very serious. But what surprised me was that he didn't looked tired at all. He turned to face me and I could see in his eyes that he was watching me, seeing what I would do. Perhaps he was trying to figure out what kind of person I was from how I would react.

"That match you were in, I saw it." he said to me. "You fought pretty well. I heard your name is David. My name's Aaron." he greeted as he held out his hand to me. Cautiously, I took it and we both shook.

"Nice to, uh, meet you..." I said nervously. I didn't interact well with other kids that I didn't know.

"I wanted to let you know that I am going to beat you." he said in a calm voice. I blinked in surprise.

"Huh?" I stammered.

"One of your parents must be a knight." he noted. "That's how you're able to fight well. They must've trained you."

"Oh, well, yeah, my dad's a knight. But he didn't train me-" I said before realizing what an unrealistic thing I was saying. How could I possibly explain that I was being trained by a ghost knight that was once a hero of the world?

"I find that hard to believe." Aaron stated. "Whatever the case, I'm going to beat you, and prove that I am the best fighter in the village." His confidence intimidated me. He seemed convinced that he was going to defeat me.

"I doubt that. David's a great fighter." Emma replied.

"You-" he said as he looked at her, "you better be ready. Because if we fight next round, I'm not going easy just because you're a girl." She scowled.

"That's fine, I'm sure I can beat you first!" she declared. He ignored her and faced me again.

"I don't want you to hold back against me. Because if you do, it won't be nearly as satisfying for me." he said. I frowned.

"I'm not going to lose if we fight." I promised him.

"We'll see..." he said as the announcer hollered that one of the fighters had won. The winner went to the stone platform and was brought back into the room, a smile firmly planted across his face.

"Alrighty folks, that's the end of the first round! Now, we will have a nice short break for children to chat with their parents, starting right now!" Aaron and the other kid ran out the door, and Emma and I followed behind them.

We hurried over to where Ms. Grasslet and her Donnie and Andy were. Andy looked so happy for us.

"Good job, guys!" he shouted.

"Thanks!" we both said in unison, then looked at each other in surprise.

"You kids are doing well. Now, I see how you managed to make it to here from Blockfield." Ms. Grasslet praised. She continued to talk, and I smiled as I looked around the gym. But then, I thought I saw a person in red standing at the far end of the gym. I squinted and I realized it was Lucian, who was staring at us with a smile on his face. He then mouthed what I thought was 'Don't tell them, or else' as he turned and went out the back entrance of the gym. I felt my heart beat faster and I grew anxious. Particles of sweat began to form on my body as I turned back to listen to Ms. Grasslet.

"-only going to get tougher here on out. You kids think you can do it?" she asked. Emma nodded and turned to me.

"Hey, David, why're you all sweaty?" she asked. I straightened myself and tried not to look nervous.

"I-I, uh, I'm just nervous about the next round." I said, hoping they would buy it.

"Don't be. I'm sure you can handle that Aaron. I think he was just bluffing." she replied with a cocky smirk.

"Yeah, uh, maybe." I responded. Right away, the announcer bellowed, 'BREAK TIME IS OVER!'

"Oh, looks like it's time for you two to head back to the waiting room." Ms. Grasslet pointed out.

"That's right, David, let's hurry!" Emma hollered as she grabbed my arm.

"Good luck, guys!" Andy shouted as she dragged me towards the waiting room.

By the time we were in, the other two kids were also in. I shut the door behind us and the announcer began to yell.

"Alright, now it is time for round two! Now, it is time for our contenders to get ready!" he declared.

The four of us immediately went into our respective chambers. I heard pistons as two of them moved the kids down over to the gym. Now that the combatants had been chosen for this match, I turned to look for Emma, but saw that she was gone. She must've been chosen as one of the fighters. I ran over to the window to see her rise from the ground, a smile on her face as she waved at the audience. But then, I saw Aaron rise from the other position, looking calm and calculating. He must have been chosen to fight her, and I trembled.


	20. Round Two

When the announcer declared the start of the fight, Emma charged straight for the chests at the center. I watched as Aaron did the same and the two rushed through the contents of their chests. I noticed Aaron put on a leather chest piece in addition to his leggings and helmet as he went after her with a stone sword. I looked back at Emma and saw she now had a full set of leather armor. She didn't replace her wooden sword with a stone one even as Aaron came at her, and I realized she must not have gotten one from her chest.

As Aaron was upon her, he swung his sword, but she narrowly managed to step out of reach of the weapon. She swung back at him, but he weaved past the swing and returned with a slice down onto her shoulder. The stone blade made contact, and she flashed red before swinging back. He ducked under the attack and brought his sword up at her faster than she could react, causing her to be hit again as she was knocked back.

"Come on, Emma..." I muttered, "You can do this!" She looked in pain, but also determined to stay standing. She was panting heavily and ran at him again. I frowned, this guy was tough, and he seemed to be reacting to her attacks. If she was to defeat him, she would probably need to be more defensive.

Emma swung her sword again at him, and he ducked under the hit, though this time she seemed to anticipate it. She brought her sword down at him, and managed to make contact with his shoulder, which caused him to flash red. Aaron steadied himself almost immediately and thrust his sword at her, striking her in the leather chest piece. She flashed red a third time before she was knocked to the floor. Emma tried to get herself back up, but I could tell she was too damaged. As she lay on the ground panting with exhaustion, the announcer rang out and declared an end to the battle. Much of the crowd started cheering.

"No!" I stammered. I couldn't believe how easily Aaron had beat her. She could only land a single hit while he hit her three times and won. Aaron went over to the platform and I could see a slight smile on his face as he disappeared down below while Emma slowly pushed herself off the ground and went to the seats, a sad look on her face as she refused to look back at me.

Aaron appeared from one of the chambers and I confronted him.

"What the heck?" I said to him, angry at how little mercy he had given her. "Why'd you do that?" He looked back at me, a calm look still in his eyes.

"I only did as I said I would. I didn't go easy on her." he replied.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to be a jerk about it!" I growled.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but your battle's about to begin. So, you better head into the transport capsule." he reminded. I held my fist up and growled, I was so angry. Just then, the announcer called out to tell us to be ready. I noticed the other kid was in his chamber, and walked into my own, still upset at the last fight.

I ended up back in the narrow hallway and went to the end of it, then was pushed up into the main room, with the other kid on the other side of the chests in the center.

"Combatants, ready?" the announcer blared. "Set... START!" I charged ahead at the chests and opened the first one. Inside was a leather helmet along with a stone sword. There was also leather boots, but I didn't need those, so I just took out the helmet and sword and equipped the helmet. Then, I charged at the kid and swung my sword at him. He managed to jump back and avoid the hit, and swung back, but I quickly used my sword to catch the hit. _I'm going to win this battle,_ I thought to myself, _and then I'm going to make Aaron pay!_

I dodged another of his attacks and jumped to the side, rolling around my opponent before jumping in the air and delivering a powerful Circular Slash attack onto the armor pieces that bound his chestplate with his leggings. He fell forward onto the ground and jumped back up once I landed. He had a look of determination on his face, and I felt a little bad that I didn't even know his name.

The boy stabbed his wooden sword forward at me, but I reacted too slowly and felt the tip punch against my chestplate. Instantly, pain surged through my body, though it wasn't that bad because his sword was wooden and well-protected against by my armor. I swung again at him, but he jumped to the side and slammed his sword against my waist. I staggered sideways a little before swinging back at him. My stone weapon struck his armor and he flashed red. His face filled with pain. Then, he let out a holler as he swung his sword as hard as he could. I watched the blade come closer to me and knew this would seriously hurt if I didn't do anything to stop it. And then, I recalled a lesson my dad had taught me about sword fighting back when he used to teach me.

I went down and below the swing and lunged at his legs, taking him down, the same way a spider does with its prey. Then, faster than he could react, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held my sword near his face. He froze, daring not to move with my weapon close to him. The crowd was silent for a moment before the announcer shouted, "The opponent has been subdued; David WINS!" and they began to cry out in cheers. Panting, I let him go, and he walked away from the floor. "Now, we shall allow for a short break for our competitors to speak with their friends, family, and supporters." he said.

I went back over to where Emma and everyone else was sitting. Emma still had a look of sadness in her eyes, but she also looked happy for me.

"Hey, good job, Mr. Hero." she said to me, not as happy as last round, but still cheerful.

"Yeah, great job, David." Andy replied. The same guy that had been helping me out with healing potions came by and handed me another.

"Take care, kid. It's the final round. But remember that winning isn't everything." he told me. I nodded and drank the potion and handed him the empty bottle, feeling much better as he took off. Then, I turned back over to my friends.

"Thanks guys. Emma, I'm sorry you got beaten by that guy..." I said to her.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't like I was going to win anyways." she responded, then her face became angry. "I just hate how easily he defeated me. He was bragging about his skill, and when I tried to beat him, he turned it around and destroyed me in that fight..."

"You did good, Emma." Andy said to her, putting his arm on her shoulder. I looked to the side and saw Aaron talking with a woman that I assumed was his mother.

"Yeah, and don't worry. I'm going to make him pay for this." I promised her, putting on a determined face. I noticed that Donnie was looking at me the whole time I was here and turned to Ms. Grasslet.

"Good luck kiddo." she said, a warm smile on her face. "Donnie and I are also rooting for you." Just then, the announcer declared that the break was nearly over and turned to head back. And then, I heard Donnie speak to me.

"You can do this!" his surprisingly shrill voice called out as I turned to see him pointing his arm to me. That was the first time he had spoken to me ever. I smiled as I looked ahead and went for the waiting room, then saw the potion guy shaking his head and pointing to the side. I was confused for a moment and paused to look around, then saw Aaron standing on the far side of the court, waiting on me. He still had his annoyingly calm look on his face. Maybe we're just supposed to stay out of the waiting room now? I went to stand on the side opposed to Aaron and stared him down as the announcer counted down to the start of the match, breathing to compose myself. This would be our battle, and I wouldn't let him beat me the way he had beaten Emma.


	21. The Final Round

**Hey guys, it's been a while. Sorry about the long wait, I've been going through a writer's block lately, not to mention that I've been playing Pokemon Black and Pokemon Black 2 and haven't been able to put either game down. I'll try not to go as long as I did without uploading a chapter. Without further ado, enjoy!**

Once the round had begun, I charged forwards and opened up one of the chests. I pulled out a chainmail chestplate and leggings and immediately put them on me as fast as I could before focusing on Aaron. I brought out my stone sword and ran at him, swinging the blade down at him, but he quickly dodged to the side and swung back at me. I ducked under the attack and swung again, but he dodged past the attack and stabbed at me. I cried out in pain as the stone weapon jabbed at my chest, but jumped back to keep a good distance from him. We began to walk around each other, watching and waiting for the other to make a move.

Suddenly, he began to swing repeatedly at me. I dodged past one attack and ducked under another before blocking a third and rolling to his side and swinging up at him. He didn't see the move in time and my blade made contact with his leg, causing him to grunt as he flashed red and turned to face me.

"You know, you shouldn't be taking Emily's defeat so personally." Aaron said as he watched me. "We all came here hoping to win. You're being very unsportsmanlike." I swung at him again, but he blocked with his sword and retaliated with a stab that I jumped away from.

"You're the one that was bragging about how he was going to win. You deserve to lose." I replied to him, glaring him down.

"With that kind of mindset, you don't deserve to win either." he countered, and I immediately lunged at him, bringing my sword down at him with a yell. He jumped to the side and swung back at me, though somehow, he missed his attack as I recovered.

"I'm not going to lose!" I hollered as I ran at him, unleashing a barrage of swings that he struggled to counter. I heard him cry out as he flashed red from one of my hits, but then felt the stinging pain of his sword striking me in the shoulder. I was stunned, and he swung again, knocking me onto the ground. I tried to get back up, but the strength in my body was abandoning me.

"Give it up, I have you beat." Aaron ordered as he stood over me.

"No, I won't... I refuse to lose!" I cried out, yelling as I attempted to call for the Spirit of Hope to fill me with strength. I tried, but nothing happened. I felt only enough strength come back to slowly get back up.

I stood back on my feet, hunched over as I was exhausted, and watched him. It felt like I only had enough strength to stand. I had taken so much damage that I was sure I was gonna pass out at any moment, but I wasn't going to without a final push. He swung at me, and I jumped into another roll to his side before getting back to my feet and lunging at him again, taking Aaron down. Then, using the same technique I had during the last fight, I wrapped my arm around his body and raised my sword back up near the bottom of his head.

"David has subdued the opponent once again! He has-" the announcer declared before I felt a crushing hit on my foot and cried out, letting go of Aaron. He turned around and slammed his sword against my chest, the attack knocking me down onto the ground again. I cried out in pain and struggled to get back up, but was completely out of energy.

"And in a surprising twist of events, Aaron escaped from David's grasp and takes the win! Aaron is the champion of Stonewall's tenth Swordskids Tournament!" the announcer shouted as the crowd cheered with excitement.

"You may think I'm a bad guy-" Aaron said as he put his sword away and lowered his hand for me to grab, "but I'm a good sport. You were a great opponent." Hearing his compliment stunned me for a moment before I accepted his hand and he helped lift me to my feet. I didn't know what to say to him. Maybe I had been too worked up about the whole thing? I just decided to stumble back to Emma and the others, not looking back at him. As I was heading to them, people in the audience started leaving the gym, heading off to their homes. Once I made it, I felt a tear slide down my face.

"I'm sorry guys... I couldn't win..." I said, waiting for someone to reply.

"Oh, David, don't be sorry. You did really good! You were in second place!" Ms. Grasslet responded, her tone was more happy than anything. I looked up at her, confused.

"But, I wasn't the winner..." I replied.

"That's alright, David." Emma said. "You were still amazing! A lot better than me. So what if Aaron beat you? You looked really awesome in that fight!"

"Yeah dude, don't take it so badly." Andy responded. "It's like what that potion guy said before. Winning isn't everything."

"But... I lost the winner prize. Now, we can't go to Diamond City for free!" I pointed out. Emma's smile made me feel a little better after what she said next.

"That's fine. We still get a cash prize. And we got that because of you. You did good, dude!" she cheered.

I was caught by surprise as Emma jumped up and hugged me. Andy then joined in after a moment of hesitation. "I, uh... thanks guys..." I said as we broke away.

The potion guy came over with a potion in his hand and gave it to me.

"Hey kid, there's no need to feel down." he said while I drank the potion, feeling energy returning to my body much faster. "You fought pretty well for someone your age. I'm impressed." he praised. I looked up at him.

"Thanks mister." I responded.

"Don't feel bad about losing this battle. I get the feeling you've got quite the future ahead of you with skills like those." he said before he headed out. It was strange, but quite nice that someone that I didn't even know had been so nice to me. Even if he was supposed to give potions to kids in the competition that were hurt, he didn't have to compliment me, so it meant a lot that he did to me. I noticed that everyone had left the gym aside from us.

"I think we should head out now." I said. Now that everything was over, I was tired and just wanted to go to sleep.

"Good idea. Morning'll probably come in a little while." Ms. Grasslet agreed. "Well children, let's head back to the house."

As we headed out of the gym, I remembered that Lucian was supposed to be nearby, and immediately looked around to see if he was watching us. I couldn't see anything of interest, though it was really dark out, despite all the lanterns hanging all over the place.

After we made it back to the house, we each crawled into our own beds near each other. Emma and I were both very tired, and Andy also wanted to sleep. After Ms. Grasslet had put Donnie to sleep, she came over to us and tucked each of us away.

"So, we can head out now, right?" Emma asked.

"We'll talk about that in the morning, Emily." she replied quietly with a smile. "Get some sleep, okay?" We all nodded and she left the room. I could hear the fireplace crackling as it burned away at the wooden sticks. I could hear Emma breathing lightly right beside me as she fell asleep instantly. It was funny, normally when one of us would stay over for the night, we would be able to stay up almost all night, only falling asleep when the sun was beginning to rise. It was pretty strange how someone with so much energy at times could fall asleep so easily. I lay my head on my pillow and went to sleep.


	22. The Trojan Endstrike

_I awakened to find myself on a floating landmass in a massive dark world. From the ground, huge purple plants sprouted out, climbing so high up that I couldn't even see the top of them. I could see the Spectral Hero standing ahead of me, his sword and shield out and ready. I drew my own sword, which was still just a wooden sword, and approached him cautiously._

_As soon as I was within distance, I thrust my sword directly at him to catch him by surprise. He blocked the hit and I immediately jumped into a roll around him, then jumped up and swung my sword at his back. The spectral knight quickly turned to face me as he rammed his shield against my sword, stopping the hit, and then brought his sword down towards me. I jumped away from the hit just in time and ran around him, trying to find a good point to attack, though he kept turning to face me. Finally, I decided to just run at him and jumped at him, swinging my sword at him. He turned and slammed his armored leg against me, launching me against an outcropping of the pale blocks. I was dazed, and noticed him lunge at me when it was too late as he landed over me with his sword raised to impale me. I covered my eyes, but he never delivered the final attack._

_"You fought well, but your reckless attack strategy would have been your undoing." he informed. "You knew that you could not perform a surprise attack on me while my gaze was fixed on you, so you decided to go for random swings without taking into account that I wear sturdy armor. Your attacks would have merely bounced off my armor, and I would have killed you with an impale, an especially painful way to die on the field of battle." He then switched to an even more serious look. "The competition you took part in, I watched it. You performed well during most of it, however, you made a terrible decision to let your emotions control you." he pointed out._

_"I-" He interrupted me._

_"Do not argue with me, you know it as well. You allowed your friend's loss to negatively affect you and sought to take revenge on your opponent." he said. "A real hero would not do such a thing. He would not seek vengeance against a foe that has not done anything wrong to him."_

_"But-"_

_"I said do not argue with me. You made a mistake. The right thing to do would be to admit it." he said._

_"I... Yeah, I did..." I confessed. "I just didn't want him to win after how he made a fool out of Emma..."_

_"He did no such thing. That is your mind making false truths out of situations. You wanted to hate him because he was confident in his ability to defeat you, therefore, when you saw him defeat your friend, you took it personally when you should not have. He even showed a kinder and more noble side to him when he helped you up after the fight. You were in the wrong." he scolded. I felt really bad about the whole thing after he beat me. Now, I felt horrible having the Spectral Hero scolding me. "On top of it all, when you were on the brink of defeat, you sought to use the Spirit of Hope against him. Fortunately, it can only be used if you are fighting for your life. It cares not for such a trivial battle in the grand scheme of things." he explained. So, that was why I couldn't use it when I tried to... "A hero must not use any unfair advantage he has against one that does not seek death or suffering upon others. It is very much morally wrong."_

_"I understand..." I said._

_"Take this lesson to heart, young one. No one can expect to be right all the time, but when they are in the wrong, they must make amends for it." he replied._

_"How were you able to see what was going on, anyways?" I asked him._

_"I am able to see events from your own perspective. I am a part of you." he explained. Hearing this made me even more confused. You can't just drop a bomb like that and expect me not to be taken by surprise._

_"Wait, what?" I stammered. "So, like... I'm you, but reincarnated?" He shook his head._

_"No, we are both bonded spiritually. I am a part of you in terms of heroism. We are unrelated digitally, however, we are similar." He straightened himself and changed his grip on his sword and readjusted his shield arm._

_"Now then, it is time for your next lesson. Tonight, I shall teach you a new technique, one that isn't taught by most knight-training programs in the Overworld anymore. Only veterans know this skill. It is called the Trojan Endstrike." he said as he raised his golden enchanted sword over to me. I raised my wooden sword and put on a serious face as our blades met and training had begun._

_"This is a particularly risky maneuver. When you have been caught off-guard by an intelligent mob, specifically an illager, and you cannot easily draw your weapon without them noticing, you approach them with your hand in your inventory like so-" he said as he put his sword away but kept his grip on his back, into his inventory, as he approached me slowly. Then, faster than my eyes could follow, he drew his sword, spun around, and brought his sword right to the side of my neck before stopping his swing. Any closer and he would have decapitated me. "There is no guard for this attack. It will always inflict death as long as the foe is not predicting it. It is very useful if you are invading an area where you wouldn't normally go, such as a woodland mansion, and are able to kill off the illagers before they can throw you in jail. This technique should not be used on another human unless you have to. A hero should not free the particles of humanity." he reminded. "Now then, show me you have memorized this technique. Use it on me!" he declared before he disappeared in a eruption of smoke. The dreamscape around me changed to that of a massive wooden hallway. Over the past couple days, he stopped using mobs for me to fight and made sure I could use the techniques he teaches me on himself._

_I put my sword back into my inventory. Then, while I was walking around, he reappeared behind me, disguised as an illager holding an iron axe. The illager had glowing blue eyes._

_"Freeze, intruder!" he ordered, and I turned to him, keeping my hand in my inventory. "Come here, slowly." As I did as the illager told me, I made sure I had a good grip on my weapon. I made sure to walk towards him at an angle so he wouldn't be able to notice my left hand easily. Then, once I was within arms' reach, I pulled my sword out, spun around and jumped high up, and brought my sword against the illager's neck, completely cutting through as they burst into smoke. The dreamscape changed back to the pale landmass we were originally on. I watched as the Spectral Hero reappeared in front of me._

_"Good job. You managed to ignore your own height difference and deliver an unexpected Trojan Endstrike onto your opponent. That is good." he said._

_"Hey, Master?" I spoke up. He watched me and I continued. "So, if you saw what I saw during the tournament, you must've seen that I lost, right?" He waited a moment before responding._

_"Yes. While it is unfortunate that you lost, that is to be expected. You are still very young. Even though you have been training with me, you were still competing against an opponent that was a couple years older than you, so he had various advantages over you, including more combat training. You were at a great disadvantage. The ones that set up the tournament likely did not take into account the seriousness of age ranges when it comes to combat." he explained._

_"But, aren't heroes supposed to win every fight?" I asked him. I heard a sound that might've been a sigh coming from him._

_"That is not true. The stereotypical hero in various storybooks would have you believe that they never lose against their opponent, that they will always be in the right, that they are never afraid. There is a clear difference between a storybook's hero and a real one. A real hero doesn't always win, in fact, they lose quite often. That is what allows them to develop and learn from their mistakes. A real hero isn't always in the right. There are times when they will let their emotions take control of them, and they'll do some morally wrong things as a result. That is something every hero has had to deal with. I once couldn't control myself while in life, and it ended with me breaking my own code. I took the life of another human. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. That caused me to go down a dark path for a long time before I managed to pull myself back out and make amends." Hearing this took me by surprise._

_"Wait, you've killed someone before?" I asked. He nodded._

_"He was not a good person. He had hurt many, many people. He certainly deserved to have justice, but he did not deserve to have his life taken."_

_He raised his arm and I could see some sort of scene playing right above it. There were two people fighting on a wall with swords. It was storming, and lightning flashed across the sky. One of the people wore a light blue shirt and dark blue pants and had darker skin than my own. He also had a very small beard in the shape of a U around his mouth. The person he was fighting had scars all over his face. He worse a black pirate-like outfit with brown pants. The two were fighting an intense battle in the rain before the one in blue clothes plunged his blue sword into the gut of the other, causing them to grasp at the wound as he pulled the sword out. The one that had been fatally wounded stumbled for a moment, uttering words that I couldn't hear over the rain, before falling off the wall. The scene dissipated in the air as the Spectral Hero began to speak again._

_"That man that I had killed was the leader of a griefer faction. A couple years after I had defeated Herobrine, the world would need me once again, and on my journey to stop a massive beast, I had been captured by the griefer faction, the same one that had forced my sister into an intense work camp many years before. I led a rebellion within the faction, and in a fit of rage, I killed the leader. It was the first and last time I had ever killed another human being." he explained._

_"If he was really that bad, why do you feel bad about killing him? Didn't he deserve it?" I asked._

_"The hero that the world saw me as believed firmly in giving people the ability to make amends. Everyone deserves a second chance. Illagers, while they are sentient, much like humans, are born of the hatred, and cannot feel empathy or remorse, while humans can. When you take a person's life, you take away their opportunity to make amends or feel remorse. It is much better for a villain to rot in a jail cell than to have their life ended for that reason." he pointed out._

_"I see..."_

_"Our lesson, for now, has been concluded. Young one, you will face great challenges in your future. You have the power to change the world, and others may see that and attempt to sway you from your path. Do not stray from the path." he said as he raised his sword up, then lowered it._

_"'If one makes a mistake and does not correct it, that is another mistake.' Those are the words of a respectable elder. You'd do best to remember them." he said as the dream faded away._


	23. Getting Horses

I woke up to find both Emma and Andy talking with Ms. Grasslet as they were eating breakfast at the table near the fireplace. I noticed that there was a large chest on the table right by them. After a few moments of wanting to go back to sleep, but being unable to do so, I finally decided to get up, drawing their attention as a result.

"Good morning, David." Emma said. I rubbed my eyes before making eye contact with her.

"Good morning..." I replied. My body was even more tired than usual. Probably because I had fought so hard last night. As I approached the table, Ms. Grasslet handed me a loaf of bread along with a bottle of water to drink. I accepted them and began taking bites as they continued to talk.

"I've always been fascinated by redstone. It looks so fun! Pretty red dust that sparkles when active, and it can do all kinds of things!" Emma said.

"Well, I think you could pull it off someday. Take a few classes specializing in redstone mechanics, and when you get older, you can try applying for a certificate to head to Red City." Ms. Grasslet encouraged.

"Wait, what's Red City?" I asked, confused. I had never heard of the place before. Both Emma and Ms. Grasslet turned their heads to me and I felt embarrassed.

"Red City's only the best place for redstone engineers! It's basically like Diamond City, but for redstone experts instead of adventurers." Emma explained.

"Red City's also one of the great Cities of Harmony that controls the government that watches over the Overworld." Ms. Grasslet pointed out.

"Eh, redstone's cool and all-" Andy started, "but I prefer watching massive tnt traps go off. It's also really cool to see when griefers use redstone with tnt and do some damage." he said.

"Oh, I take it you're from the TN-Town district?" Ms. Grasslet responded. Andy looked confused.

"Um, what do you mean 'district'?" he asked.

"Well, as you kids might know, there's the four Cities of Harmony that encompass the Overworld, one in each cardinal direction. Diamond Kingdom is to the south; Red City is to the west; TN-Town is to the east, and Beacon City is to the north. Well, each City has a massive area of control with dozens, and even hundreds of much smaller villages within them spanning tens of thousands of chunks. Stonewall and Blockfield both belong in the Diamond Kingdom district, because they are both south and closest to Diamond Kingdom." she explained. This was all new information to me as well as it was to Andy. Emma seemed completely aware of this though, and I wondered when she suddenly became so smart.

"Oh, cool." Andy responded. "Well, I just came from TN-Town directly. My mom wanted to move to a much safer village for me after she caught me playing with TNT." he said.

"Good for her, I would've done the same in a heartbeat if I caught little Donnie doing the same thing." she replied.

"So, what's in the chest?" I asked. I just couldn't take my eyes off it.

"Oh, well, you were in second place in the tournament last night. So that means that you won the second-place prize." Ms. Grasslet reminded. My heart started to beat out with excitement.

"Really?" I stammered and she nodded.

"Go ahead, take a look." she invited, pushing the chest towards me. I opened the lid up and looked through. Inside, there were tons of emeralds all glittering in the morning sunlight.

"Wow! There's so many of them!" I exclaimed as I grabbed a few of them and held them in my hands.

"Yeah, Ms. Grasslet said that there's enough to buy a few horses and a bunch of food!" Emma said.

"Sadly, the rail line to the Diamond Kingdom has been out of commission for the past several days. Something caused damage to the tracks, so Diamond Kingdom track workers need to get onto it. But it should be fine, because you can buy some horses and head on out." she explained. I was surprised to hear she was already willing to let us head out.

"You're letting us go?" I asked her, and she smiled.

"You might not have won, but you sure showed me you can defend yourselves. Just be careful, and be sure to make a shelter every night." she requested. We all nodded.

"Okay!" the three of us said in unison, then looked at each other in surprise. Then, Emma spoke up.

"Well, you guys ready?" she asked. Andy and I nodded our heads.

"Let's go." Andy said as we picked up our backpacks and shoved all the emeralds into them. Then, we headed out of the house, but not before giving Ms. Grasslet thanks for all the help she had been for us.

We found the stables and spoke with the person that took care of the horses, asking to buy three of his younger horses. He was at first skeptical, but then let us buy three after we showed him how much money we had. I had chosen a very brown horse with a lighter brown back. It had a yellowish mane, and a white spot on its forehead. The caretaker informed me that the horse was a boy, and that it liked to eat sugar a lot. I decided to call it Starbringer(or Star for short), the same name that my dad had for his own horse. Emma had chosen a tan horse with spots all over, and she and the horse had gotten along immediately. It let her ride it around the ranch area the moment they saw each other. Andy had chosen a gray horse with white splotches across its body. Once we had all chosen our horses, he had us pay him ninety emeralds(which took a long time to count exactly) and we tamed our horses, then left the stable with our horses tied with leads. We shared a good laugh upon discovering that Andy had no experience with riding horses. And that was when I noticed Donnie running over to us from his home.

"Hey Donnie." Emma greeted him. "We were just about to leave."

"I... I know. I just, well, Mom forgot to give you guys food, so I wanted to give it to you before you left." he said as he brought out several porkchops and loaves of bread.

"Oh, thank you!" Emma replied as she took the food from his hands.

"You're welcome. I, uh, also wanted to say good luck to you guys." he said, pausing every few words as he carefully thought about what he wanted to say next.

"Thanks, we will." she replied, then began to go through her backpack. As she was pulling out some more emeralds, I suddenly felt a presence behind me. I turned around, but couldn't see anyone nearby, then turned back to look at Donnie.

A moment later, I felt something press against my mouth and a quiet voice spoke to me from the side.

"Don't cry out. Don't yell." the voice whispered as I became alarmed. I recognized that voice, it was Lucian's! There was nothing visible pressing against my mouth, but I still felt smothered by an arm. It was as if he was invisible. "I want you to take a few steps away from your friends nearby so they can't hear me..." I did as Lucian's voice said and distanced myself slow enough for them to not notice, as Andy and Emma were both engaged in a conversation with Donnie. "Now then, when that boy goes back to his home, I want you to tell your friends that you need to check on something in private. I don't want them to follow you. If they insist, tell them that you left your sword behind at the gym and that you will be back shortly. Once you separate yourself from your friends, I'm going to need you to go to the gym, and then we can have that nice chat I promised you. Understand? Shake your face lightly if you do." he ordered in his scary voice. I slowly nodded my head, my heart beating out with fear.

"Good. Now, if you decide to let anyone know about me, I will make sure they won't live to spread the news. I will see you shortly." he said as I felt his invisible arm let go of my face. Then, just like that, I couldn't feel his presence around me anymore. Trying as hard as I could to stay calm and collected, I listened back to the conversation they were having. Emma was handing several of her emeralds to Donnie.

"Seriously, you and your mom should have some. It's the least we could do, after all." Emma said with a happy smile. Donnie looked uncomfortable, but took them.

"Um, thank you..." he said. "Please don't die."

"Aw, not a chance!" Emma replied. "We're going to save the world! And everyone knows that the heroes always win in the story!" With that, he turned around and headed back to his house, carrying the emeralds Emma had given to him. I was terrified, but I drew their attention.

"Uh, guys?" I said, trying hard not to look nervous. "I need to go back to the gym, I, uh, I accidentally left my sword back there last night."

"Okay, should we come with you-"

"No!" I nearly shouted. "I mean, no thanks, I can do it myself. Just hold on to my horse, please." I requested and handed the lead with my horse to Andy. "I'll be right back guys."

"Okay, see you soon." Andy replied. I walked towards the gym, my heart beating out as my body was filled with fear. I was about to be alone with a crazy person that wanted to kill people, and there was nothing I could do about it.


	24. Lucian's Offer

Once I was in the gym, I looked around the room, but couldn't see anyone. Lucian was supposed to be here, so where was he? Suddenly, I saw as he appeared in the middle of the gym, as if he had teleported or something. He was watching me with a sinister smile on his face. I slowly approached him, unable to control my shaking as I got within five blocks of him.

"Greetings, David." he said. "I watched that tournament you were in. You fought pretty well, pretty valiantly. Just like your father." he complimented.

"How... how do you know my father?" I asked him, trying hard not to sound afraid.

"I believe I already said. I am, after all, your registered uncle. He and I are brothers, though I bet he never talks about me." he stated.

"My dad doesn't have a brother..." I replied, remembering when I had asked him if he had any brothers or sisters at one point. He had told me he hadn't.

"Ah yes, that's exactly what he would want you to think. He's always hated me." Lucian explained. "However, I have no interest in speaking of that waste of a man. No, what I really want to talk about is you." He then began to walk up closer to me, then stopped as he towered over me. I tried to keep a stern look, but couldn't make myself stare into his eyes. "You know me, don't you? At least, you knew to be wary of me, and not just in the sense of me being a total stranger to you. You were questioning me yesterday quite aggressively." he said with a sinister grin.

"I... I know enough about you. You want to destroy the world!" I said to him. He frowned slightly and began to walk around me, his hands behind his back as he sighed.

"Wrong. I don't want to destroy the world. You see, my mission is to cleanse it of the parasites that cover it. Both monsters and humans-at least the selfish ones. You see, I've read countless historical documents, I've gone to many strongholds to learn the history of our world. I know quite a lot about it. Did you know that there have been a total of three massive wars that have threatened humanity? Most people only know of the Desolation War, the third and most recent war. Before that, there was the Mob War, and then the Diamond War. But all references to them have been lost, excluding what I could find from the ancient strongholds." He continued pacing.

"I also learned that throughout our world's history, there have been numerous chosen heroes who emerged to save the land from a powerful villain or great calamity. There was the first hero, who had defeated the white-eyed villain named Herobrine when he had first appeared; the hero of the Royal Family, who was the second to defeat Herobrine and save the Royal Family of Minecraftia, as well as preventing the rise of an ancient evil; the hero of light, who tamed Herobrine and ended his hatred towards humanity, as well as defeated the Ender Fury, a massive mutated enderdragon set on consuming the world; the hero of the sea, who had stopped the sun from crashing into our world and incinerating everything. And there are many more. Humanity is not inherently evil per say, but there is one thing that many have in common-they only care about themselves. That is why I view humanity overall as generally very selfish." he paused for a moment before continuing.

"Together, we as a species are strong, we are conquering our world, but at the same time, we are weak, and we are also destroying it. As more and more people are born, this world's resources begin to lessen. And when the balance is disturbed, nature tends to try and fix it. The first time, it threatened our world with an ancient evil. The second time, it created a massive mutant enderdragon. The third time, it sent the sun down. I can only dread about what it will send next time. I am among the few who sees these signs as what they are: a warning. A warning that if things do not change, then the next great threat might be the thing that brings about the apocalypse. I crafted the Wither to be intelligent, this one understands human speech. And I made a deal with it: right now, it can hunt down all the villages it wants as long as it does not ignore undead mobs. Not only that, but it learns from its own mistakes. A village that it fails to destroy the first time will fall the second." he revealed.

"Wait-you made the Wither!?" I stammered, horrified. He scowled, as if he had said something he didn't want to say.

"Yes, I did. And people will thank me in the end, when only the purest humans exist." He continued pacing around for a moment before turning back to face me again. "You see, I am the hero of this era, the hero that this world needs. I am the one that will prevent the apocalypse. I will be the cleanser of Minecraftia, and when I am done, humanity will be pure. It will be as it always should have been. In the world I hope to create, men will work hard to make money to provide for their families. Women will tend to the needs of their families. Children like you will finally be able to dance in beautiful fields of flowers under the moonlight, no longer needing a reason to fear the dark. And monsters will be permanently driven to thrive underground, and if they come onto the surface at night, they will be terminated by my Wither." He then stopped pacing and kept staring at me, making me feel more uncomfortable.

"And that leads me to you. As you can see, I am not young. I cannot live forever, no one can. Eventually, the day will come when I despawn. And when that day will come, I will need someone to precede me. Unlike your friends, you understand what is going on. You know the stakes. You seem more mature than the others. You are also an excellent fighter. Not only that, but you are also adamant. If you believe you are in the right, you won't back down unless proven otherwise. I need someone like that, and I prefer for it to be someone that shares digital codes with me, as you are my nephew. And so, I leave you with an option to consider for the next time we meet. Will you join me as I bring forth a new age of peace and prosperity for humanity? Or will you defy me and pursue your own flawed and misguided ideal?" he asked, then pulled something out of his inventory. It was a map, and he handed it to me. "As a show of good faith, I will leave you with a map leading directly to my location in the future. Should you decide to abandon the path that your father wants you to take, use this map. If you choose to join me, then I will take you on as my apprentice. And if you manage to convince your friends to come with you, I will spare them from the Wither." he promised. But then, he got right up to my face with a scary look in his eyes.

"But, if you decide to come to me in an effort to stop my plans, I will destroy everyone and everything you hold dear. If you go against me, I invite you to come after me. Your corpses will pile up at my front door." he threatened, causing me to flinch. "I am not alone in this. I have allies backing me up. If anything were to come close to me, I will know, and so will they. The choice is yours. Follow the whims of a naive man that doesn't care to change the world, or the plight of one that truly wishes to save it."

I heard the gym doors open up. Immediately, Lucian pulled out a bottle of a clear liquid that glowed and looked like a type of potion and threw it to the ground. As the potion hit the ground, it shattered and he instantly vanished. I could see a few barely visible swirly particles float up in the air before they disappeared. When I turned around, I saw Emma and Andy running up to me.

"Hey guys." I said to them.

"David, why were you taking so long? We got tired of waiting on you. Did you find that sword you left?" Emma questioned.

"Uh, yeah." I replied. "We can go now."

"About time. According to Emma's clock, it's past noon." Andy pointed out.

"Where are the horses?" I asked, noticing that Andy didn't bring any of them.

"There was a fence post right outside the gym, I just tied them there." he explained.

"Come on guys, let's go already, I'm ready to see what the world has to offer us!" Emma exclaimed impatiently. "This time, we won't be running on foot, I'm super excited!"

We left the gym and untied our horses, then mounted them. Andy had some difficulty though because, as he stated, he'd never gone horse-riding before. We rode our horses to the gate entrance of the village and then headed off, feeling great as the wind blown over our heads. Though as we were riding, I couldn't stop thinking about everything Lucian had said to me...

**And there we have it. Now Lucian has revealed what he is working for all this time. Feel free to leave a review, I'm especially interested in what people think about this particular chapter in the story!**


	25. Troubles Abound

It had been two days since we left Stonewall village. After traveling nonstop until nighttime to make a shelter, then heading off again for a whole other day of nonstop traveling on our horses until night, we finally decided to relax for a while and go fishing in a nearby river. I still hadn't told the others about what had happened in the gym, though they had suspected something was up when I kept acting nervous around them. Andy and I were fishing right next to each other while Emma was feeding our horses with a bunch of apples we had pulled from a bunch of trees yesterday. I was nervous being so close to the large bank, so I stayed a good five blocks from it.

"Even though we stopped riding our horses to make a shelter last night, I can feel my backside already getting sore..." I said to him, trying to make small talk.

"Yeah, no one ever told me that horse-riding can be so uncomfortable. I wonder how soldiers do it all the time?" he replied. Just then, I heard my hook go underwater and immediately pulled up on the fishing rod. Rotten flesh flew out from the water and instantly slapped across my face.

"Plah!" I spat as I threw the disgusting object away. Andy laughed loudly as his hook got pulled underwater. Then, he pulled it out and a green lily pad flew up and landed on top of his head, dripping water particles and covering some parts of his face as his expression quickly turned sad. I couldn't help cracking up at the sight as he pulled the plant off his head and threw it away.

"Ha ha, real funny..." he said as he went back to fishing.

We continued to go fishing for a while before we heard Emma's cry of terror. Immediately, we shared a brief look of shock before we got up and ran over to the shelter as fast as we could. Once we had made it, I could see a familiar dark creature dragging Emma into a cave as she screamed in fear.

"Emma!" I yelled, while Andy stood, frozen in fear at the sight of the monster before they disappeared into the darkness.

"That's an enderman!" he cried out and covered his eyes. I looked back at him.

"A what?" I asked before remembering what it was.

"An enderman. They get really angry if you look at them. They are really hard to kill, and are very dangerous." he explained.

"Then, we have to get her back!" I said as I pulled out my stone sword. I ran directly for the cavern, followed closely by Andy.

As soon as we entered the cave, I pulled out an unlit torch and ignited it against the stone wall. Andy did the same, and the increasing darkness was quickly replaced with flickering light. We continued to go deeper into the cave, but slowed to walking so we wouldn't run into any monsters and be caught by surprise. We began to talk quietly, in case there were monsters around.

"Enderman are scary monsters. According to legend, they normally come out at night and move blocks. Sometimes, they kidnap kids and take them underground to their lairs. No one knows what happens to the kid." Andy said as we walked side by side. "If someone looks at them, they will brutally be attacked. I heard that they kill more than any other mob." he explained.

"Well, I'm not gonna let one just take Emma like that and get away. If it tries to, we're going to come after it and slay it." I told him, though with the atmosphere around us, and remembering the first time I had been attacked by one, I was more worried than determined.

"Right. No man left behind." he replied, "Or, girl..."

We soon came across a split tunnel. Andy and I decided to split up and yell if we came across the enderman or Emma. He went left and I went right. As I went along, I thought about how dumb of an idea this was. We were underground, and now we were on our own. What if mobs attacked us? Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any mobs nearby, but I was still sweating nervously as I went along.

The cave I was going through started going deeper underground. I jumped down several ledges before it evened out. As I was traveling along, I could see colorful specks sticking out of several of the stone blocks around us. There were pink, black, yellow, dark blue, and I even saw light blue, though I wasn't sure what most of them were and decided to ignore them.

After a moment more of moving ahead, I came across what appeared to be a mineshaft. There were tunnels that spanned a great distance. There were rows of rails, many of which were powered and active with redstone torches. I walked along one of the rail lines for a little before I heard the sound of a minecart driving towards me. I looked ahead and saw a bunch of them all tied together with leads pushing each other along. I immediately jumped out of the way and they drove past me at incredibly fast speeds. I noticed that there were chests in each of the minecarts as they sped past. This place looked strange. It looked like some sort of transportation area. Then, I realized it might've been one of the many points where rail lines overlap as they head to some of the various villages across the world. I wondered if one of these rail lines led straight to Diamond City, but realized that even if there was one, I wouldn't be able to tell anyways.

After traveling for a bit, I heard the distorted sounds of an enderman nearby. I instantly was on my guard and turned the corner to find the enderman with Emma unconscious in its grip. Purple particles danced around the strange creature. It was holding her like a block in both of its hands as it turned to look at me. I froze as it eyed me down, looking down. I could see out of the corner of my eyes that it looked down at Emma in its hands, looked back at me, and then turned as it let out a sound and ran off. Immediately, I unfroze and chased it down, but then stopped when I heard a gruff voice ahead of me. The enderman suddenly let out a shriek of pain as it became enraged and unhinged its jaw, dropping Emma as it lunged at a person in the dark. I ran over to Emma and grabbed her as I watched as a gray-skinned man slammed an axe against the enderman, causing it to let go of him. Then, he swung his axe at it again, causing the enderman to flash red as it roared a distorted shriek and slammed its fist against him. Then, another gray-skinned man ran at the enderman and slammed his axe against the dark monster, causing it to let out a final distorted cry as it fell down and exploded into particles.

"Thanks misters-" I said before I realized something was up. The gray men ran over to us and kicked me off of Emma, and I let out a pained cry.

"Two children. They will make for great hostages." one of them said. The other grunted gruffly in agreement and the last thing I saw was his fist slugging me in the face, causing me to lose consciousness.


	26. The Illagers

**Fun Fact: Around a hundred years ago, during the Desolation War, the four Cities put their full effort into making sure they could make communication and resources easy to access, and so they searched underground and located many abandoned mineshafts and repaired them, setting them up to function as networks that allowed for fast travel between the many settlements across the Overworld. This was during an era in which, due to the actions of the hero of light, as well as many successful negotiations, the four factions were beginning to open up to help from each other.**

_I dreamed that I was someone else completely._

_I stood on a stage in front of dozens of people, who were looking at me with smiles and happy looks. They were all cheering a name, but not the name I went by. They were cheering the name _Steven_._

_"Greetings, everyone. Two years ago, a white-eyed man named Herobrine sought to destroy humanity. With his four horsemen and the enderdragon, the odds were in his favor. But with the help of everyone, we managed to unite and defeat him once and for all! It is I, the one who defeated Herobrine!" I said, and they all cheered. "Yes, I landed the finishing blow, however, I could not have done it by myself." I turned to look at my friends and family that had helped me along the way. Closer to the curtains stood my sister, Alex, along with William, who was a good friend of mine. And of course, there was my always cheerful pig companion, Joey, who stood right beside me. I smiled when I remembered how many times they had all come through for me. "I could not have even come close to defeating Herobrine without any of their help. They are all heroes as much as I am." I invited Alex on the front stage with me. She came up and spoke up._

_"Yeah, well, I wouldn't go _that_ far. But yeah, he definitely couldn't have done it by himself." she said with a confident smile._

_"Oh, come on, give me more credit than that!" I said with a chuckle. The audience laughed as well. Then, I invited William up as Alex went back to the sideline._

_"Hello everyone. Yes, you may know us as heroes, but we are people just like you. We lost people on the way, people that paid the ultimate price to ensure Herobrine's demise. It's because of them that we are here today." he said._

_"That's right. We shouldn't forget that there are people that gave their lives so we could all continue to live ours." I reminded. "We are all special. Everyone has a reason to live. There's no exceptions to that. No one is any less special." Just then, one of the event organizers gestured for me to move on to the next part of the event._

_"Alright, now I'm ready to accept questions." Instantly, a dozen hands went into the air. I just chose the first one at random. "Yes, the one in the lime shirt?"_

_"So, what was it like when you found out you had to face against such a powerful monster as Herobrine?" he asked._

_"Well, it was scary at some points. He would constantly appear to torment me and belittle me at times, but for the most part, I was determined. I think it was because I knew I had my friends to back me up." I replied. "Next question?" I chose another person who wore a red shirt._

_"Yes, uh, what are your thoughts on the faction segregation?" he asked. I thought about that one for a moment, thinking on how I could appropriately explain._

_"Ah yes, the faction segregation. I don't believe people should distance themselves from others just because of their passions. I believe in a world where a warrior can be good friends with a builder, and a redstone engineer can be friends with a griefer. That's the reason why, with everyone's help, we built Blockholm. It will be the first city to have everyone of every faction allowed." I declared. "Now, next question?" Several more hands rose in the air, and I mentally sighed. There were so many, but with the schedule we had, I wouldn't be able to answer all of them. "Yes, the one in the yellow jacket?"_

_"What do you think makes a person a hero?" she asked._

_"Well, during our journey to stop Herobrine, I realized many things. A hero is what they are because they are willing to throw aside everything they have in life to defend others. That, in turn, comes to inspires others. A hero can be counted on by the people who are too scared to fight by themselves. The difference between a hero and a coward is that a hero's body will act first, while a coward's mind will act first. But that's not to say it is wrong to feel afraid. Heroes don't have to be good at fighting. A __person isn't always a hero because they can fight and defeat monsters.__ A hero is someone that inspires you to push yourself to do better. That is truly the greatest thing that a hero can do for others." I explained. "Next question?" I picked the person that was wearing a white shirt. He began to walk forwards through the crowd._

_"If the world were to be in danger once again, would you able to protect it?" he asked. I noticed that his red eyes were very bright._

_"On my own, I'm not sure. But with the help of my friends, I'm sure we would be able to." I answered him. "Next?"_

_"I'm not done yet." he said as he made it to the front of the crowd and climbed up onto the stage._

_"Um, sir, you're not allowed to get on the stage-" William said before the man pushed him away._

_"What if there was someone who rose up and threatened the world, someone far worse than Herobrine? What would you do then?" he questioned._

_"If they sought to hurt others for their own selfish gains, I would stand against him." I said, on guard as his red eyes flickered._

_"Good. Then, I know to kill you." he said as he placed down a familiar block that flickered lights. I gasped, it was a Command Block. The man's skin melted away, and what remained was a dark creature wrapped in a white cloak. His eyes glowed red. I immediately drew my sword, the legendary Sword of Heroes. Alex and William ran to my sides, armed with their bow and swords._

_"Command Block, summon an enderdragon!" he ordered as the Command Block began flashing violently, and instantly created a dragon right in front of us. The crowd went into a panic as cries filled the air. The enderdragon roared, enraged, and lunged at me, but I managed to jump out of the way in time._

_"Command Block, initiate Sequence Number Sixty-Two!" he shouted. The Command Block flashed, and the enderdragon stopped for a moment before letting out a roar as particles began surrounding it. Then, I felt myself getting pulled towards it. Blocks began to disassemble from the building we were in and shoot towards the beast, attaching themselves as it suddenly began to grow in size. I heard the man's triumphant laughter._

_"In five weeks, this world will be destroyed!" he hollered over the shouting of the people. "I vow it, for my name is Entity 303, and I will destroy Minecraftia!" And then the dream faded._

I woke up gasping in fear after the dream I just had. It was as if I was there, really experiencing what had happened. Was that a real event that had happened? I felt my body shuddering from the tension before I calmed myself down. Then, I looked around.

I was tied to a fence post, and I realized Emma was tied up to the same fence post, still unconscious. We were both tied together. I couldn't move my arms well. I could see there were several gray people standing around a stone block, looking at a map and muttering to themselves. I could only barely hear what they were saying.

"This rail network should connect to Stonewall, Victorian, Japora, Hallow, Canald, and Diamond City." one of them said to the others. "If we destroy all the rails, then no one will be able to travel from and to any of these locations. It will cost them much to fix them, and we will have more for our networks."

"What about when those diamond-clad rooks come here?" another asked.

"We'll be long gone. Not only that, but we can keep coming back to steal the rails. Chances are they won't have the finances to hire golems to patrol the entire rail network." the other answered.

"And what about our hostages?" one of them asked.

"What is there to know? We do what we have always done. Hold them captive and announce to the Diamond district that we have two children held hostage and provide information on them so the parents find out. If they do not come forward with a great ransom, we will execute them." I couldn't help but gasp in horror upon hearing this, which immediately drew the attention of all of them.

"One of them is awake." another of them shouted. The one that had been answering questions of the others came forward. He seemed to be the leader.

"That isn't good if he heard us. We can't let him tell the Minecraftian government of our plan." he said.

"Should we execute him right here?" another asked.

"No. We will have his parents pay for his return before killing him and returning his inventory." he answered. My heart pounded with terror as he got closer and held an axe close to my face. "You should be happy. You are going to make us all very rich. The Purge Society thanks you." he said.

"Th-the... Purge Society?" I stammered.

"Hah hah, that is correct. We are illagers, and we created our own government to stand against your own-the Purge Society. When we cause your government to collapse, we will take over as the dominant species of the Overworld. We will rule the world with iron fists!" The other illagers let out cheering bellows.

"But why can't we live together? Why do you hate us?" I asked him, my voice cracking.

"Because you humans are an inferior species. You are not worthy of claiming our world. Back when humans competed with villagers for domination over the Overworld, they mated with the villagers, bringing them to the point of extinction. We cannot forgive your kind for changing our world like that! Those bastards will burn painfully in the Nether when we are through with them! As for you, your only worth to us is monetary. And once you have served your purpose, we will dispose of you!" he yelled directly at me, causing me to flinch.

"We all have a name for your kind. You are rooks to us. A failed breed of Notch's people. We, the illagers, are his master species. And we will conquer the Overworld in his name!" And with that, he slammed his fist against my shoulder, causing me to flash red. I cried out in pain from the hit as his fellow illagers laughed. I felt tears beginning to form in my eyes from the pain. He turned back to the other illagers. "Now then, it is time to get back to working. Keep taking apart those rails, and kill any mob that attempts to stand in your way." he ordered. The other illagers grunted and raised their arms to their head in a salute before rushing off. The leader went back to looking at the map. "Those damn rooks will pay for everything they've done to us."

I tried to keep from sobbing, but my arm hurt so badly, and the fact that I couldn't rub it made it even worse. I just looked down and tried to think what I could do. I looked through my inventory from my mind, and could see that everything was still on me. I even had my sword, which was good, but I couldn't pull it out because I was tied up. I tried to shift my arms to see how loose the lead was, but it was really tight. These illagers knew how to properly tie people up.

After a moment of trying to loosen my bounds, I noticed someone in the hallway to the left of me peering over at us from one of the hallway corners. I realized it was Andy. He had a serious look on his face as he got closer. I pointed the bottom corner of my head towards the illager leader, who was facing away from us and still looking at his map. Once he went to the entrance of the room, he noticed the illager and hid behind the corner just as another illager appeared to talk to the leader.

After a long conversation that lasted a few moments, the second illager headed off, leaving the leader to his map-watching and Andy slowly and quietly tiptoed into the room, then made it over to us and pulled out a wooden axe that he pressed against the first binding. The axe cut through the binding, and he pressed it through the second. I made sure to be as quiet as possible as he was working on cutting through our ropes.

As he cut through the third binding, the leader suddenly turned back to us.

"It's time to go-" he stopped as he saw Andy with an axe out cutting our rope. "Oh no you don't!" he roared as he pulled out his own iron axe and charged at Andy. With a cry of shock, Andy immediately jumped away from us to dodge a strike from the weapon. "You bastard, you'll be coming with me!" the illager bellowed. Knowing that Andy was in trouble, I pushed as hard as I could to loosen the rope even more. I grunted with effort and felt the lead finally give way as I fell forward onto the stone ground.

I immediately pulled my sword out of my inventory and ran for the illager as he was swinging at Andy. Just before he could strike him down, I slammed my sword against his leg, causing the illager to fall down. Andy quickly slammed his axe down onto the illager's arm, causing him to flash red.

"You bastards will burn eternally in the Nether!" the illager roared as Andy raised his axe and dropped it down onto his chest. He disappeared into smoke particles. I panted and looked over at Andy. His eyes were full of fear and he was clearly filled with adrenaline.

"Thanks for everything." I said to him. He looked back at me.

"No problem." he replied.

"But how did you know they were here?" I asked him.

"I had found the mineshaft and began hearing the gruff grunting of one of them. I quietly followed them until they started talking with another about how they had capture two kids, and I knew instantly they were talking about you guys." he explained, and I started hearing the grunting of another illager. It was far off, but I could tell it was getting closer. He probably heard what the leader had been shouting and was running to check in.

"We need to go. Emma's out cold, and there's several more of those guys." I said. We both ran to Emma and carried her as we ran out to the rail networks. We ran as fast as we could while making sure we didn't drop her and staying as quiet as possible. Before long, we found our way back to the cave entrance. We immediately got onto our horses and rode off so there was no chance those illagers could come after us. The whole time, I couldn't help but think of how lucky we were that we had decided to split up so Andy didn't get captured, and how lucky it was that Andy had found us.

**Wow, this story sure went down a much darker path. At least we now know what happened to villagers. And now, we know that the illagers are a borderline terroristic threat(though, let's be real, they were never going to be anything but a big threat). Be sure to tell me what you think!**


	27. The Strength of Man

We didn't stop riding our horses until it was nighttime. By then, we built a shelter out of dirt and bunked up for the night. Emma was still unconscious, which made both of us worried. Andy felt responsible for the whole thing, constantly saying how he should've been the one that fed the horses, but I told him that he would've just gotten kidnapped by the enderman. We sat by the campfire and watched as it cooked the fish we had caught this morning and left Emma laying on her bed we made specifically for her. It sure surprised me when Andy said he knew how to craft a campfire and taught me how to. Maybe he wasn't as clueless as he often let himself seem to be.

"It feels weird, you know?" he said. "Normally, Emma would be going on and talking about something funny, and she would get us to do the same."

"Yeah. Well, we don't need her telling us to do that. We can do that by ourselves." I said. "Do you know any good jokes?" Andy thought for a second.

"I've got one. Why can't an enderman understand a book?" he asked. I thought for a moment, but couldn't think of the answer. "Because it always starts at the end!" I immediately burst out laughing.

"That's a good one! How'd you think of that so quickly?" I said while chuckling.

"My dad used to tell me all kinds of jokes. Here's another: Why didn't the skeleton try to fly?" he asked.

"I don't know, why didn't the skeleton try to fly?" I repeated.

"Because he had no guts." I chuckled again.

"I've got another." I exclaimed. "Why did the creeper cross the road?"

"To get to the other ssssside!" Andy said with a smile.

"Dangit! I wanted to say it!" I said, though I still laughed at the joke.

"That's nice. We make really good joke-tellers." he exclaimed.

"Yeah, see? Even without Emma awake we can still have a good time." I smiled.

"You're right." he agreed. A moment passed before the fish flew off the campfire. I took the salmon while Andy took the cod and we took bites of our food while we ate.

"So, you said that Emma was unconscious when you found her. Was it the enderman or the illagers that did it?" he asked. I thought back to this morning.

"I first found her with the enderman. Somehow, it knocked her unconscious. But then, as I was following the enderman, that's when those illagers came and captured us." I explained. "If you hadn't found us when you did, it scares me to think of what they would've done with us..." I shuddered. Those illagers were terrifying. They didn't care at all that we were kids, they still attacked us and cursed us. They were so barbaric...

"Yeah, I was trying hard to stay calm when I heard that you guys were tied up with the leader. I had to be really sneaky. There was one point when an illager I was following turned around and I had to hide against a wooden support beam as he ran past. My heart was racing the entire time." he said. We soon finished our fish and were full. We decided to get some sleep.

I laid back against the grassy blocks, listening to the fire crackle as I closed my eyes. The sound comforted me, and I soon fell asleep.

_I was back in the dreamscape, and I was in the world without light. Giant purple plants grew from the porous ground and towered in the sky. When I turned around, I saw the Spectral Hero standing before me, his golden sword and shield out. I drew my wooden sword and approached him, waiting for him to make the first move._

_He brought his sword down on top of me, and I jumped to the side, then went into a roll and launched myself into the air, slamming my blade against his backside with enough force to knock him forward. Then, I immediately jumped at him and stabbed my sword down into his back. He let out a hushed wail before going limp, and I jumped off him, smiling proudly. I had actually defeated him this time! The Spectral Hero slowly got back up to his feet and looked down at me. My sword was still wedged in his back._

_"Excellent. You have done well. You have learned much, and with your strength, you managed to defeat me by mastering the Circular Slash." he praised. "You are now worthy of wielding the stone sword." Suddenly, my sword disappeared from his back, and a stone sword appeared in my hand. "Every time you manage to defeat me in our training duel, you get to wield a more powerful sword in this realm." Then, his face became serious._

_"You've had a tense day today. This was your very first encounter with the illagers." he noted. I nodded._

_"It was terrifying. I thought I was going to die..." I stammered. The Spectral Hero listened as I told him about my experience with them._

_"Illagers, they mirror humans in many ways, especially griefers. However, the difference between the two species is that one was created to harbor love, and the other was created to harbor hate. Illagers would first appear in our world shortly after I had saved the world for the second time. Although they were not directly related to the Desolation War, it is believed by some including myself that they pulled the strings behind the war. There is no way a Wither could have been created other than by the hand of a human or an illager." he explained._

_"You were lucky to have gotten away from them. That is why friends are a vital part of a hero's path. You help them, and they help you. That is how humanity has evolved to the state it is. Because people worked together. Illagers believe in survival of the fittest. They believe in supporting the strongest, and that all who are weak must be executed." he informed. "As you age, you may find that they will become more and more dangerous. When you make a name for yourself, they will attempt to capture you and imprison you. They are not your friends. They are not a problem that can be quickly resolved. They will continue to stand in our way for a long time." Hearing that made me shudder. "Now, without further ado, it is time for your lesson."_

_"Wait, after they knocked me out, I had this dream. I think I was dreaming that I was you, at least when you were alive. I was at some kind of event, and there were tons of people that asked you questions. Then, this black figure in a white cloak appeared with a strange block and created an enderdragon that grew in size..." I remembered. The Spectral Hero let out a sound that sounded like a sigh._

_"The opening of Blockholm... Yes, I know what you speak of. That was back when I was the hero of the people. After my battles against Herobrine had come to an end, I chose to dedicate my future to building a great city where people could work together regardless of their professions. Two years later, we had completed the town. It was meant to be a wonderful event, but then a shape-shifting sorcerer named Entity 303 appeared with the Command Block. He spawned a new enderdragon, and used the limitless power of the machine to transform it into a gargantuan beast that nearly succeeded in destroying our world. The beast came to be known as the Ender Fury, and it was finally defeated when we managed to summon the great giants of the land to fight the beast. After that, I defeated Entity 303, and then fought and sealed away the Great Evil." he explained._

_"Wow..." I muttered. How could I ever be as heroic as he was? I couldn't even stop myself from crying when those illagers had captured me. The Spectral Hero seemed to have read my mind and responded._

_"Many heroes come from humble origins. My heroic origin began when I was living on my own and began searching for a village that hadn't been destroyed from a catastrophic event that had took place years before. Your origin is when a Wither attacked your humble town." he pointed out. "It does not matter where we come from, we can become heroes if we are determined. You and I are alike in that sense. We both have the inner strength to push ourselves."_

_"I think I get it..." I replied._

_"Good, now it is time for your next lesson." he said as he held his sword in front of him. "This time, I shall teach you a method for keeping creepers at a distance from you, making it significantly more difficult for them to explode upon you." He struck his sword down onto the ground and spawned a creeper in front of him. "As you may or may not know, a creeper's only objective is to find a human and blow them up. However, when seeking to do this, they tend to become very focused, to the point of obsession. They cannot see anything other than the human, and they will not think. When a creeper is stalking you, you must keep them at a distance at all times. If you wield a shield, then you can use that shield to block, however, at your age and with your physique, a shield would only weigh you down. Watch as I keep this creeper away from me."_

_The creeper began to chase after the Spectral Hero as he backed away from it, holding his shield in front of him. Then, he stopped and thrusted his sword directly at the green monster, causing it to flash red as it staggered back before continuing to chase him. The Spectral Hero did this three more times before the creeper fell over and exploded into particles. The Spectral Hero turned to look back at me, a determined look in his eyes._

_"Now, you must show me you can preform this technique on your own." he insisted as the dreamscape changed and he disappeared._

_It was nighttime and I was in a forest of dark spruce trees, and a creeper appeared right in front of me. Cautiously, I held my sword in front of me as it took notice of me and began to charge closer. I began to back up, and then stopped to stab my sword directly at it, knocking it back before it started walking to me again. I kept backing up, but then, I felt the hard and rough surface of a tree. Immediately, I began to panic as the creeper got close enough to me to swell up, and I broke into a sprint-only to slam into another tree. I fell onto my back, dazed as I heard the swelling and immediately tried to get to my feet before the creeper exploded, racketing my body with pain as I flew back and cried out._

_'Wrong. You must pay attention to your surroundings as you back away from the creeper.' I heard the Spectral Hero's voice in my mind._

_I watched as another creeper spawned in front of me. It noticed me right away and I began to back up, keeping a much closer eye on the trees around me as I stabbed at the monster. Before long, it died from my hits and the Spectral Hero reappeared as the dreamscape returned to the massive island._

_"Good job. It took you two tries, but you managed to do it. Pay close attention to the area you are in-one wrong move and you could be blown to particles." he explained._

_"Our lesson here is done. Hone your skills, remain on guard, and protect those you hold dear." he said. "'The weakness of man is also man's strength. The ability to have compassion is by far the greatest gift we as a species could ask for.' Those are the words of a famous writer. You'd do well to remember them." He raised his glowing golden sword before lowering it down to his knees. "Our session has ended. Continue on your way to Diamond City. You are getting close. Keep faith." And with that, the dreamscape faded._


	28. Diamond City

**_Joseph's POV_**

It was nighttime, but the sun was rising up on the horizon. We had been fighting monsters the entire night as we made our way north, closer to Diamond City. Before long, phantoms had begun to spawn and hunt us as well. But before they would begin to overwhelm us, they soon began to burn away in the sunlight, along with the zombies and skeletons. The spiders soon stopped attacking as they became drained of energy, and we sniped any nearby creepers before they could get too close.

We had managed to fight until morning, but that night was particularly close. My armor had gotten close to breaking, and Destiny's chestplate had broken apart midway through the battle. Fortunately, we were right next to DC, and it would appear in sight any moment as we headed north.

"You doing good?" I called to Destiny as she rode her horse behind me.

"Never better!" she said happily. I had learned that she was very happy when it came to fighting monsters. I chuckled a little to myself, oh, the joys of youth. I missed the times when I would stay out and train against the monsters of the dark and go to sleep during the day on a regular basis.

Soon, I noticed as a massive spire began to appear in the far distance. _That must be it,_ I thought as I pushed the reins on my horse forward. She began to gallop even faster and more of the city appeared. I could see numerous massive towers stand above the rest of the city. In the middle of the city stood a great castle constructed of stonebricks. The entire city was surrounded by small walls that were surrounded by a massive great lake.

"There it is!" I pointed ahead, a smile forming once again across my face. This was the city where I was born and raised to become a knight. I wondered how much it had changed since the many years I had left to live in Blockfield. We soon rode across the southern bridge that spanned the great lake and then over by the southern gates, which were overlooked by two guards in full iron armor. The gate was closed off by sticky pistons.

"Identifications, please?" the first one requested. I jumped off my horse and reached into my inventory and pulled out the papers I had received from the council.

"I am Joseph, second-in-command to the general of the knighthood in Blockfield." I said as I handed him the paperwork. "I originally lived here and served under the Knight's Watch for ten years before I moved." I explained while Destiny handed her paperwork over to the second guard.

"I'm Destiny. Your mayor is my sister. I moved out three years ago to Victorian village and joined the knighthood there." she explained. After the two guards looked through our paperwork, they handed them back to us and began writing down on their notebooks, likely a log to keep track of who enters and who leaves the city.

"Alright, you two can go." the first one said as he pushed the lever right next to him. The sticky pistons retracted, dragging the cobblestone walls back so the entrance was opened. We got back onto our horses.

"Have a good day you two." I said to the guards. They nodded and continued to stare ahead. Guard duty was very boring, so I sympathized with them. We rode into the city.

The first thing I heard was the yelling of soldiers as they trained for combat in the field nearby in unison. There were at least thirty of them training. They were all lucky to get into Diamond City-a soldier could only receive a scholarship to learn advanced fighting if they met very specific qualifications, such as weight and age. If a soldier wasn't at a specific skill level by a certain age, with the right weight and experience level, they would never be allowed to train in Diamond City.

I could see that there were several shop stands lining up the southern entrance. No doubt they all sold very specific enchantments, weapons, armor, and tools. I even noticed one of them was selling totems of undying for quite a hefty price, which I suppose was fair, given how amazing they were.

"So, who are we looking for?" Destiny asked. I looked around for a moment before responded, my eyes taking in the familiar setting.

"A longtime friend of mine, Chris Jackson." I told her. "If you see a tall white man with blond hair and glasses, let me know."

"Alright." she replied as we rode along. I was filled with nostalgia looking at everything. There were houses that lined the road beyond the shop stands, and I could see the community library further ahead with people entering and leaving with books. People walked right by us without even a glance as they headed to their destination. This was only one road of Diamond City, but there was so much more activity here alone than Blockfield or Victorian. And of course, at the center of the great city stood Diamond Castle(which ironically was not made of diamonds), towering above everything else.

After looking around for several moments, I looked at the letter Jackson had sent me a few weeks ago. In it, he had told me about some things that were going on around DC, including the ever-so-messy politics. He had also sent me an address to take to the address checker in case I ever dropped by. So, the first thing I did was stop by the address check building. As I tied my horse to the fence post right outside, I went inside, followed closely by Destiny.

Inside the building, there were several people waiting in line to get their letters checked out. I sighed as I knew that we would have to wait through the long line. This would take a while...

After an incredibly long wait, we were finally at the front of the line. I said hello to the woman at the counter and handed her my letter to evaluate. Once she was done, she handed the notes she had written over to one of her coworkers.

"Don't worry, it won't take long." she said to me. "She's just going to craft and design a map of Diamond Kingdom with the address location highlighted."

After a few moments, I heard a click as a map flew out from a dropper beneath her desk and she took a look at it for a moment before handing it off to me.

"There you go, head to the location highlighted on your map." she said.

"Thank you ma'am." I said to her. Then, with the map in handed, Destiny and I left the building. I took a look at where the highlight was at. It shown in a red X on a row of houses to the west wing of Diamond City. Jumping back onto our horses, we went over to that location.

After a couple moments, we finally made it to the house that was highlighted on the map. Once our horses were properly tied to the fence post right outside the house, I knocked on the door loudly. Then we stood there for a moment before it opened up. Sure enough, Chris stood at the door, wearing the same glasses he's worn for years. I noticed he also had clean-shaven beard. He looked between the two of us for a moment before recognizing me. Then, a smile spread across his face as he ran forward to hug me.

"Joseph!" he said happily and I laughed heartily upon hearing his joy. "Hey, it's been a while, man. What have you been up to?"

"Not much. Ever since I left DC, I've been taking it nice and easy in the countryside." I replied.

"Nice, hey-as long as you're enjoying yourself, that's good enough." he said, then gestured for us to come in. "Come on in, you two. My door's always open for a good friend!" We went inside his house.


	29. Another Old Friend

We sat down on his carpetted wooden couch. I had taken my armor off, though Destiny kept hers on, only removing the helmet. He handed us some porkchops, to which we proceeded to eat before we spoke.

"It's been ages, how have you been?" he asked once we finished.

"Pretty good. Ever since I left Diamond City, I've felt like a whole new person. Moving over to Blockfield's helped me on a spiritual level quite a lot." I told him.

"That's great to hear!" he replied.

"So, what is your relation?" Destiny spoke up. I had almost forgotten she was here. "How do you two know each other?"

"Ah, well back when we were in our heyday, we set out to slay the enderdragon!" he answered. "And let me tell you, Joseph was easily the best fighter out of all of us."

"Oh come on, don't give me that much credit." I chuckled. He looked back at me with surprise.

"But it's true, you've whooped every single one of us in a one on one! You were a legend on the battlefield." he praised.

"You were pretty good too. You were the one that deduced that we needed to take out the end crystals when we were fighting the beast. We wouldn't have gotten out of the End alive if you hadn't have figured that out." I complimented. Just then, a woman came from the other room and spoke with him for a moment before heading off.

"Jackson, you never told me you got married!" I realized.

"Oh, I didn't? Well yeah, got married two years ago. She's wonderful." he said.

"She's pretty too. I'm happy for you." I replied as I patted him on the shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me? I would've attended your wedding for sure."

"Well, we didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Only our families were invited. Nothing personal pal, I was sure you'd understand."

"That's alright, I get it." I told him with a smile. "Any kids?" He shook his head.

"Nope, don't have any kids yet, waiting 'til we're both ready." he informed.

"That's a good idea. Raising kids is a battle of its own, and one that lasts years. Sometimes it feels like a goddamn war." I said with a heartily laugh. He chuckled.

"Yeah, I heard." He looked over at Destiny. "So, what about you? How'd you meet Joseph?"

"Oh, well a few days ago, I was taking part in a knight's competition for Victorian, and then out of nowhere, Joseph shows up and just defeats me." she explained. "Then, he said he was hungry and left."

"That sounds just like Joseph!" Chris laughed and patted me on the back. "He never changes."

"Yeah, so then I met up with him again at the bar and he told me about how he was heading to Diamond City for something important. So, after talking for a bit, he let me go along with him and started training me himself." she told him.

"Ahhh, so you got yourself an apprentice?" Chris said as he looked to me. I nodded.

"Sure did, and she's a pretty good student. Has the drive to learn from her mistakes and improve herself. Turns out she's also my sister." I told him. His eyes widened with surprise.

"Wait-really? So you must be Destiny then." he stammered. She nodded. "It's been a while since you were here." he said before focusing back onto me. "Well, it's pretty great to hear how much the newer generations look up to and aspire to become heroic like us. Makes me think that the world is doing well by itself." he replied.

"Agreed." I said. "So, do you know what happened with the rest of the crew?" He thought for a moment.

"I know that Randy took off for the Red district around three years ago. Said that he had a sister he wanted to meet up with. I haven't heard from him since. Jodie also moved out around a month ago. She didn't say where she was headed. George, well, you know he's always been angry about you getting the final hit on the dragon and getting credit for its death. I don't really know where he went, he kinda just disappeared." he recalled and I sighed. George had always gone on about how he wanted to be the one that defeated the dragon, so when I did it, he took it personally. I tried to settle things with him numerous times, but I guess he just didn't care. He had taken a massive hit to his pride-in his own words.

"Well, that's unfortunate. I was kind of thinking we could bring the team together for one last battle before retirement." I said as I remembered the reason I had come here. "Oh yeah, so the reason why I came here was because a Wither has been invading the Diamond district and attacking villages."

"Is that so? That sounds real serious..." Chris muttered as he rubbed his light beard. "The last time a Wither had invaded our world, a great war ensued that threatened humanity..." I nodded.

"I know that since I left DC, you went on to become a council member. So, I need you to bring me in to their next meeting. I can't stress enough how seriously dangerous this Wither is." I said.

"Well, I can certainly do that. The council seems to love you. It's sort of funny considering they despise your brother." he chuckled. "Alright, the next meeting is tomorrow. Here, let me do something..." he said as he went through his inventory and pulled out a page that he began to write on. Once he was finished, he handed me the paper. "Take this." I took the page and looked at it. "It will allow you to enter Diamond Castle and go to the planning room where the meeting will take place. It has my signature, so it is valid permission. The meeting will take place tomorrow in the afternoon." He looked over at Destiny. "Unfortunately, I cannot give you a pass. Your sister has said that she does not want you to take part in any council meetings." Hearing this, Destiny scowled.

"She still won't allow me to go? Doesn't she know that I'm not a little girl anymore?" she protested. Chris shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but rules are rules. She's the queen." I had forgotten that in DC, they still kept up old traditions, and so the people referred to the mayor as the queen. Destiny sighed.

"Fine, but at least bring up the conversation with her. I'm an adult. I'm not going to destroy the kingdom just because I attended one meeting." she requested.

"We will bring it up with her." he promised. "Well, this was an absolutely wonderful time. I'm so glad I got to see you again, Joseph." he said. I smiled.

"It's an honor to meet with you again." I responded as I got up. Destiny followed along as I left for the door.

"Take care. I look forward to speaking with you and the council tomorrow." he replied. I looked back at him after opening the door.

"Same here, old friend." he said and we walked out of his house. Once we were out, we untied our horses and looked around for the hotel inn. I knew it was somewhere on the west wing.

After a few short moments, Destiny pointed it out to me and we went on to it. While Destiny got to work and guided our horses to the stables right next to the inn, I went inside and headed over to the counter, where there was a female receptionist looking through a book. As I headed to the counter, she noticed me and shut her book.

"Hello, welcome to the Diamond Mine, Diamond Kingdom's own famous inn where you can count on us to ensure that you have a wonderful experience." she greeted.

"Hello, I wish to rent two rooms for the night." I told her.

"What floor?" she asked as she opened her log.

"Is the first floor good?" After looking through her log, she looked back at me.

"I'm sorry sir, but there aren't two rooms available on the first floor." she informed.

"Oh, okay. How about the second?" I asked. She flipped to the next page and looked through the log.

"Yes, there are two rooms available." she said.

"Excellent!" I exclaimed as I went through my inventory and pulled out ten emeralds. Each night in the inn costed five emeralds, and I was paying for both my own room and Destiny's room. As I handed her the emeralds, she placed them in her chest and pulled out two levers, then handed them to me.

"Thank you, here are your levers to go into your rooms. Your room numbers are 205 and 206. Have a wonderful day." she said.

"Thanks, you too ma'am." I sat down on a wooden chair block for a moment before Destiny arrived.

"I took care of the horses." she assured me.

"That's good. Now, here's your lever." I said to her as I handed her the lever.

"You know, you don't need to keep spending your money for me. I have tons of emeralds." she told me.

"I know, but back when I was a young gentleman, it was customary for the man to pay for the woman. Please don't take it personally." I told her as she took the lever. Then, I headed to the hallway and she followed close behind. "Our rooms are on the second floor." I informed her as we went to the staircase and climbed up. Once we had made it up to the second floor, I told her the room numbers and we searched for the right rooms. Each room had a sign right next to the iron door with a number on it. We soon found the correct rooms and I took Room 205 while she took Room 206. I placed the lever down and opened up the door, then went inside.

In my room, there was a red bed, a crafting table, a furnace, and a chest. The room wasn't that big, it was a four-by-four with a ceiling three blocks above the floor. But it was enough for me. I practically lunged onto my bed and passed out almost immediately.


	30. The Council of Diamond Kingdom

After traveling for three days and nights nonstop, I was so tired that I had fallen asleep through the entire day and night. I eventually woke up early in the morning the next day when the sun flashed directly onto my face. I groaned and pushed myself to get up from my bed. After taking a long moment to properly stretch my arms and legs, I pulled out a chicken to eat as my mind slowly cleared up from the morning fuzz.

Once I had finished eating the chicken, I opened the iron door and walked out of the room, taking my lever with me so that no one could enter my room without my permission. Destiny's room door was closed, she was probably still asleep. I went down to the first floor, where the receptionist greeted me. I said good morning to her before I headed out.

The city was very quiet in the early morning. There weren't many people up, though really soon they would come out. I made my way towards the castle at the center of the kingdom. The castle was surrounded by a ring of water, which provided one layer of protection around the castle in case there were invaders. Beyond the moat was a large wall that surrounded the entirety of the castle, which would've provided a second layer of protection. Spanning the moat was a bridge leading to the courtyard entrance, which was set up by redstone and pistons to be able to close almost instantly at the flip of a lever. I soon walked across the bridge and approached the gatehouse. At the entrance to the castle, there stood two heavily-armored guards holding tridents. They wore full sets of diamond armor and looked very serious.

"Good morning knights." I said to them. They stood straight and crossed their tridents.

"What business do you have with Diamond Castle?" one of them asked in a loud and stern voice.

"I was invited to attend a meeting with the council that is taking place this afternoon." I informed him.

"We are going to need to see paperwork confirming that." he responded. I fished out the page that Chris had written for me and handed it over to him. He held it in his hand as he read the writing. "Very well, you may proceed." The two guards uncrossed their weapons and I passed by them, entering the Diamond Castle courtyard.

Once I was within the castle walls and in the massive courtyard, I could see very impressive architecture all around the interior. There were arches that lined the walkways. I could see a small river stream flowing across the place as cows and sheep roamed in a large but enclosed area. Standing tall at the center of the river was an impressive fountain made of nether quartz that kept the water flowing to prevent it from getting stagnant. There were countless different kinds of flowers blooming with a few trees in the field. I watched as some children, most likely those of noble or royal descent, played with each other. The place looked beautiful in the morning sun. If it wasn't almost the afternoon, I would have taken the time to pick a flower for my wife when I got back. Maybe later.

I walked on through the courtyard over to the entrance into the castle, which was guarded by two more heavily-armored knights, these ones holding diamond swords. As they noticed me approach, they straightened themselves.

"What is the reason you are here? Do you have permitted audience with the queen?" one of the guards questioned. I stopped in front of him and pulled out my paperwork.

"Yes, I do." I told him as I handed the letter to the guard. He took it and read over it for a moment before handing it back.

"Very well then. You may head inside." he declared and the two moved aside so I could pass on through. It was a little annoying that I had to do the same thing with every guard to get further ahead, but I understood the reasoning completely. If anyone were to try and get into the castle to attack the Royal Family, then it would be disastrous, hence why the castle was so heavily protected with walls and guards to verify that each newcomer was not a threat.

Once I entered the castle, I found myself walking through the great hall. It was eerily quiet as my footsteps echoed throughout the empty halls. The entire room was lit up by powered redstone lamps that never turned off, to constantly keep mobs from spawning within the castle. I remembered when I had grown up here while my father was the king, or rather mayor. Sometimes, it would get so quiet that I thought I would hear things. I recalled fearing that there were ghosts living in the castle.

Just being here made me recall how simple life had been back then. Lucian and I had been really close brothers and played together a lot while our dad ran the kingdom. We were always safe as there would be guards stationed outside of our rooms every single night. Life was just so much different. Then, everything changed when Lucian grew up and became a cynical person. He sought to rule Diamond City, and he refused to wait for our father to retire. He had poisoned our father one night and then killed him in his sleep. After the king had been found dead, he went on to rule the city while under heavy surveillance from the council that Dad had set up many years before. After a few years of investigations, that was when they determined that Lucian had been responsible for our father's death. Lucian denied the verdict, but there was no evidence to prove otherwise, and so he had been sentenced to death by the council. But after pleading to them about how Lucian didn't deserve the harsh penalty, I managed to lessen his punishment so that he would be exiled from Diamond City. I had been horrified to hear the news and didn't want to believe it, but there was too much evidence that proved he was there when the king had been killed.

I had always wished that things had stayed the same way they were when we were children. Lucian wasn't anything like the way he is today. He had been my closest friend, and I had loved him more than anyone else. Even now, despite everything he has done, I can't make myself truly hate him. He has been and will always be my older brother, no matter what.

After exploring the castle for a few moments, I finally found a room that was guarded by two more knights. I could tell that these ones were royal guards, and they wore diamond armor and held diamond swords, all of which were enchanted undoubtedly with the most powerful enchantments. As I approached them, they straightened and stood tall.

"Halt! This room contains a very important meeting between the council members and the queen!" one of them informed. "If you are here to take part, we need authentication that you have the written permission of a council member." I pulled out my letter once again and handed it to him to read. After a short moment of reading, he gave the letter back to me. "Very well, I will need all of your weapons." he ordered.

"Alright." I said as I pulled out my enchanted diamond sword and handed it to him, then gave him my bow, my axe, and also my flint and steel.

"You may proceed!" he declared and stepped out of the way. I moved past him and opened the door to see various members of the council speaking among each other at a long table. Sitting in the throne at the head of the table was the queen, dressed in her full diamond armor and looking stern. Her light brown hair fell down her suit of armor, some of which trickled to the front of her chestplate. As soon as I entered the room, they all turned to look at me.

"Hello council. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" I said, putting up a nervous smile.

"Indeed." one of them, an old man in a yellow robe, said. I remembered that his name was Rairus. He had a long mustache and beard, both of which were white. "It has been fifteen years since you last joined us at a meeting."

"Yeah, so uh..." I wasn't sure what to say next. I forgot just how intimidating it was to be here with so many people of high power. "How have you been, Astrid?" I asked, addressing the queen. She straightened up and stared at me with a hardened look.

"It is Queen Astrid to all who address me. That includes you." she ordered.

"Ah yes, my bad, Queen Astrid." I corrected myself. "Forgive me, I haven't been to Diamond City in quite a long time."

"This is not a city, Sir Joseph. It is a kingdom. You should acknowledge it as such." she replied in annoyance.

"Well, according to the other Cities-" The look she gave me intimidated me. "You know what, nevermind. You're right, it _is_ a kingdom. My apologies." She sat back.

"I'm glad you understand. Now then, we were discussing you, actually." she explained. "Sir Chris has informed us that you have a very serious announcement to tell us." I noticed Chris sitting in the seat in the middle of the table on the left. He nodded.

"Take a seat, Sir Joseph, and tell us your news." he requested. I nodded and sat down right on the chair block at the opposing end of the table from the queen.

"So, just over a week ago, I was training in the training facility in Blockfield. It was a special day for everyone. Our village's school had just opened up for the first time, and children were going to class. But then, the skies darkened as a Wither appeared and attempted to attack the students. Our iron golem managed to make it on the scene, but not before the Wither had taken the life of the teacher, who had originally came to Blockfield from Diamond Kingdom for her job. The golem distracted the Wither long enough for our soldiers to attack and lure the Wither away from the class, however, the Wither began taking down dozens of our troops. As it went along, it destroyed many peoples' homes, and many people lost their lives when they didn't expect the monster as it destroyed their places. I myself didn't make it to the scene until it had already started to retreat." I explained. The council was silent for a long moment before the queen spoke up.

"So, there is a Wither, and it is terrorizing the villages across my district?" she summed up. I nodded.

"We have a valid suspicion that it had terminated Teran village, as shortly after the attack, a survivor of the attack on Teran confirmed that the Wither had been there and devastated the town." I added. One of the council members spoke up.

"Now, when you say that this Wither retreated, do you mean it really retreated, or was it distracted by animals and lured away from the village?" he asked.

"No, it was actually fleeing. It flew away and high into the sky. It seemed to have been actively trying to preserve itself." I informed him.

"A Wither that has self-preservative instincts..." another council member muttered. "That sounds very unusual." I shrugged.

"I was just as shocked when I saw it as well. As unusual as it sounds, I believe this one may be intelligent." I suggested. The council members all looked at the queen, who was deep in thought.

"This Wither... when was the last time you saw it and where?" she asked.

"I only saw it when it attacked Blockfield. I haven't seen it since." I replied as she thought more. "We need supplies. Blockfield was barely able to survive the attack. People have lost their friends and families to the monster. It killed most of our animals." I insisted.

"You can have the cattle and we will send doctors to the village." she promised, but then one of the council members spoke up.

"Um, actually, Your Highness, it may be difficult to send either to Blockfield. Over the past several days, we've noticed that rails from the rail system have been missing." he informed her. She gave him a confused look.

"Excuse me? How long has this been going on?" she questioned him.

"For about five days." he replied.

"You should have told me sooner. Send track repairers to replace the rails that are missing." she ordered and the elderly man nodded.

"Yes, Your Highness." She looked around the table to each person seated.

"Does anyone know what could have created this Wither? There is only one way to build a Wither. Someone had to have gone to the forbidden Nether long enough to get the wither skulls and soulsand required." she pointed out.

"I have a theory, but admittedly I do not have much proof for this." I said. "I believe that my brother may have something to do with this. I cannot confirm whether he directly built the Wither, but on my way here, I met with him and spoke to him. He talked about how he believed this Wither was going to change the world. He knew about the Wither almost immediately." The council thought about this.

"If that Lucian is responsible for this Wither, then he has broken the laws set by the Minecraftian government and entered the Nether. Not to mention that his actions would have cost the lives of countless and the destruction of many villages." Rairus said. "He will need to answer for his crimes and be thrown in jail for the rest of his life."

"Screw that, if he's responsible for this, I want his head." Queen Astrid stated, her face full of anger. "So, you will send track repairers to repair the rail system. After the tracks are repaired, I want to you to launch an investigation into this Wither. I want to find out where it came from, where it has gone to, what towns it attacks, and where it goes when it retreats. I don't want people to attack until we know everything there is to know about this monster." she ordered to the council. "We will take a short break for now to gather our thoughts and have a meal. I want all of us to be back here this evening." Once she said that, everyone got up from their seats, including myself and the queen. We all headed out of the meeting room and went for the dining room. I felt my own stomach beginning to grumble in anticipation.


	31. A Royal Lunch

**Fun Fact: In Minecraftia, humans do not reproduce the way you would think. They reproduce similarly to how villagers do, and must both be 'willing' to be able to spawn a child. Both parents are equally responsible for the child and typically have equal bonds with them. In other words, unlike in the real world where the mother typically has a closer bond with the child than the father, both parents are completely equally important to the child. Due to this, there _are_ parts of the real life human anatomy that simply do not exist within a Minecraftian human's, such as genitalia and breasts, considering they would effectively have no purpose.**

We had gotten our food from the royal chefs. Everyone had gathered to the dining table, which had put the meeting room's table to shame with its length. I sat right next to the queen, and Chris and a few other council members that were friendly with me sat close by. Set on the table were stacks of all kinds of food, ranging from cooked steaks to pumpkin pie and golden apples. There were more than just us, though, as there were over a dozen noblemen and noblewomen that had joined us for the feast. Added to that were their many children as well. I was sitting in the same room as some of the richest and most powerful people in all of Minecraftia.

As we were eating our food, I remembered Destiny. I wondered what she was doing while I was in here. I then immediately remembered that my family were still back at Blockfield. Hopefully, Commander Cole was doing a good job of keeping the place secure. I couldn't wait to eventually come back and for David to run at me and jump into a hug for me. Maria must be worried out of her mind. I felt bad that while I was here eating gourmet food and completely safe from danger, my family was still back at home with no guarantee of help arriving, but I had to keep reminding myself that this was the best course of action, not just for my family, but for numerous villages out there.

"So, Joseph," Chris started right next to me, snapping me out of my thoughts, "I heard you got married awhile back. Tell us about that." The table turned silent as they were waiting for me to say.

"Didn't I say last time I was here?" I asked as I took a bite out of steak.

"No, remember, you left before the feast. We didn't get to hear about your family." he replied.

"Oh, right. Well, a couple years after I moved to Blockfield, I fell in love with this wonderful woman named Maria. A year or so after that, we got married and had a daughter that we named Natalie." I paused when I remembered my little girl. "She was a sweet girl. Always wanted to be the best at what she loved. When she was thirteen, I made a serious mistake and gave her permission to leave the village at night... I thought she could handle it, she was good enough whenever I taught her. But then, she disappeared, and for the next three days we searched everywhere." I felt a small tear forming.

"Hey man, no need to talk about it." he said, putting his hand on my back. "We've all lost someone we care about, though nothing's worse than losing someone that spawned from you." I shook my sadness away.

"Anyways, so before we had lost Natalie, Maria and I wanted to have another child, so that was how we spawned our son, David. David, now he's a very shy boy, but very kind." I said, smiling. "Sorry guys, I accidentally showed some vulnerability, my bad!" I chuckled to myself. The queen eyed me.

"Does your family know how you were once a prince of the Diamond Kingdom?" she asked. I looked straight at her when answering.

"My wife does. I never told either of my kids." I replied. "While I wish David was a little more brave, I don't want to tell him because I don't want him to get very snobbish around other people. I want the kid to keep his friends, not push them away because his father has a high position. He's been very arrogant before, so I don't think it's out of the picture for something like that to happen." The queen nodded her head.

"That is understandable. Children of the monarchy have the stereotype of being spoiled and expect others to do their work for them. I can understand why you would want to shelter your son from that knowledge." she sympathized.

"Thank you, Your Highness." I said to her.

"I must say," one of the other members of the council started, "I cannot understand your reasoning behind moving out of the Diamond Kingdom to live in such an underdeveloped village. I'd imagine that Blockfield is barely functional as a town."

"Well, I just got tired of living here. I'm sure we all feel it from time to time, when things get so stressful that you get burned out. I wasn't going to ever become king anyways, so I decided that I wanted to head someplace where I wouldn't be treated any different from other people." I patiently explained to him. I had a feeling that this was going to go down one place it shouldn't...

"But you could have become king, had you not given up your royalty to keep your brother alive." he pointed out. I already knew where this conversation was heading.

"Look, I don't care if you disagree with my decision. I made my choice, and I'm happy with the outcome." I told him sternly.

"You would have made an excellent ruler of the land had you not cast your codeline aside for your brother. You were the next in line to rule, not your sister." another council member scolded. Hearing this, the queen scowled.

"Enough. I will not have arguments breaking out in the Great Hall. They belong in the meeting room. And do not discuss how others would rule." she ordered. The council member looked back at her and nodded.

"Yes, my queen." he said as we continued eating. The other noblemen began telling stories and jokes amongst each other and having a good laugh while I ate in silence. Most of the council seemed to enjoy my company, but my decision to break away from the council in order to move to Blockfield to start my own life had caused quite a lot of irritation.

"Joseph," the queen called to me in a quiet voice. I turned to look up at her. "after the meeting after lunch ends, I'm going to need to see you in my quarters. We'll be discussing some things I prefer not to talk about in front of the council." she said. "I wouldn't trust anyone else to speak to privately other than you, brother." she said and I smiled. She was great at holding a dignified and powerful expression, but I knew the real person behind the facade.

Once we were all stuffed, everyone got up and headed back to the meeting room.

**I wanted to let all the readers that aren't new know that recently I've been posting world-building fun facts on some of the previously-posted chapters, such as this chapter, which is how they are usually presented(I also wanted to post this particular fun fact here because it's more appropriate here than any other chapter). I'm currently going in order from the third chapter onwards, though I won't post any fun facts on any chapter where there are already author's notes from me at the top, nor any chapter where David trains with the Spectral Hero. All other chapters that are blank I just haven't put fun facts to yet. You don't _have_ to go back and read them, but their purpose is to help you understand more about how this world and its inhabitants function.**


	32. An Uneasy Treaty

**Hey guys, I wanted to bring light to an issue revolving around the story the way I've currently laid it out. Some of you may have noticed and been caught by surprise that Joseph and Astrid are siblings, while others expected it, and I understand the confusion fully. The reason for this is because I've accidentally made it too unclear about certain characters' relations to each other, such as Destiny and Joseph-despite both of them being technically siblings, they don't acknowledge each other as such and are treated as strangers. This is because I've given Joseph a contradicting backstory that I will be putting focus on to fix it. This was something I only remembered after I had posted the previous chapter, and it was not meant to go this way. To be transparent, the whole idea that Joseph is a part of Diamond Kingdom's royal family is actually a very new idea. The original idea(which has held up) is that he is a knight that slayed the enderdragon, but I wanted to add more to his story than that, and I accidentally made the story really confusing for some of you. Now, my full priority is focused on finding a way to keep the story the way it is(because I don't want to change that) and make the characters interact differently from before. Don't think too hard about what this means for the upcoming scene, it's gonna have practically no difference. I'm solely going to change the relationship between Destiny and Joseph, nothing else. I'll keep you guys updated once I've resolved the issue, and I'm really sorry this happened. It can be really frustrating when a writer changes up parts of the story that potentially change how the characters are presented, and I understand that frustration fully.**

Once we had returned to the meeting room and everyone was in their seats, Astrid spoke up.

"Now that we have decided on how we're dealing with the Wither, I would like to discuss what we should do with the illagers." she said. I looked at her with confusion. Illagers were a vicious species of mob, capable of organizing and working together. They had posed a threat to us before, but I haven't heard anything from them in years.

"What happened?" I asked. She looked directly at me.

"They have been becoming increasingly more aggressive. They've gotten really close to some of our villages, and have been breaching our treaty." she explained. "The treaty states that neither human nor illager should appear within two hundred blocks of each others' settlements. I've been hearing reports that they've gotten close enough to be spotted by the citizens."

"That isn't good..." one of the council said as she nodded.

"People are beginning to panic. We need to do something right away. They have breached our contract and we need to reassert our dominance." she stated. "I would like to hear suggestions on what you all think we should do."

"I think we need to send out a warning to their pillagers that if they continue to approach, then they will be met with heavy forces." another council member suggested.

"I believe that we need to begin producing more iron golems and show them that we mean business." Chris offered.

"I say send the troops." I added. "The illagers are a barbaric species. They respect power, and will not submit unless they see that we are in control."

"All of these are good suggestions." Astrid praised. "And it is like Sir Joseph and Sir Chris stated; the illagers will only hesitate if they are shown that we mean business."

"Please, Your Highness, I implore you to think more carefully about this." another council member requested. "The illagers are highly unpredictable. They are like a ticking block of tnt. One little push, and we could end up with a war." Hearing this, the queen rubbed her chin, thinking.

"That is also a concern of mine. We need to show them our power, but do so in a non-provocative way." she mused, "And looking back at previous treaties that have failed in the past, they appear to see defensive precautions as a form of retaliation, as pathetic as that is."

"Hold on, if I may ask, why are we so afraid of going to war with these bandits?" I asked. "They are actual savages. They kill for fun, and they kidnap people that get too close and hold them captive until they are paid off. This is a very bad faction that simply doesn't belong on the Overworld."

"The reason why war against the illagers is so bad, as you should know, is because the illagers are an intelligent species. They are powerful, and they have strong weapons. Not to mention that, if our reports are accurate, their own faction is far larger than the entirety of the Diamond district. Going to war with them is a very bad idea." she answered. "Plus, it is our responsibility to prevent war, considering that we are the military peacekeepers of Minecraftia. The rest of the world is counting on us to keep the illagers at bay peacefully. The last thing we want is another great war like the one from nearly a century ago." she explained. I understood it the way she said it, but I still firmly believed that we should be striving to wipe those illagers out. They were nothing more than terrorists.

"Now then, what I am thinking is that we request to send builders from Beacon City over to build watchtowers around the villages the pillagers have been spotted at. They may take this as a sign of aggression, but we've got to show our strength. If the village government tries to interfere, tell them that I've declared martial law." she stated.

"Watchtowers aren't that bad. They could be used to keep an eye on the mobs of the night." Chris pointed out.

"That's exactly what I think. It may be provocative, or it may not. I don't believe the illagers would declare war over that of all things though." she said.

"Now, is there anything else we must talk about?" I remembered Destiny's request.

"Um, actually, Destiny wanted to start to join these meetings." I told her. She gave me a glance.

"No." is what she answered with. I blinked.

"Um, if I may ask, is there a reason for that?" I asked.

"Because she is too young and inexperienced." she answered in a tone that told me she wouldn't let this conversation continue.

"Now then, this meeting has concluded. All of you are dismissed." she said and everyone proceeded to get up and head out. I myself got up and felt the queen's hand on my arm.

"Don't forget, we're going to talk in my quarters. It's important, and I do not want anyone else to hear." she explained. I nodded before turning.

"I just need to get my weaponry from the royal guard." I told her as we walked out the room. I noticed the royal guards straighten themselves at the sight of the queen. She shook her head.

"No, they will follow us." she pointed out as they followed behind us.

We continued to walk for a moment before she spoke up again.

"You seem to miss this place." she said as she noted me looking all around.

"Well, yeah, I haven't been here in many years." I reminded her, chuckling slightly.

"Yeah well, not much has changed. The castle was built to stand for all time, as you know, so not a lot of things happened here." She spoke up again, "So, are you happy with the humble life that you chose?" I nodded.

"Yeah, of course. I got to live in the country with a beautiful wife and kid." I said with a smile.

"Hmm..." she muttered as we came upon her room. She went inside, and I followed. I remembered back when we would play in my sister's room without her knowing. She would get so upset, it was funny when it happened. Once the doors were closed, she turned to face me.

"So, you saw him, you said that right? Lucian?" she questioned. I nodded.

"Yes. Back in Victorian." I told her.

"Do you truly believe that he is behind the Wither?" she asked. I thought about it for a moment before deciding.

"Yes. At the very least, he played a role in its creation. That much, I'm sure of." I answered. She sighed.

"Very well then, I will give the order for all Diamond district towns to search for him. When he is found, he will be brought before us, and I am going to hear the truth from his own mouth." she promised, then put her hands on the sides of her head. "I am tired of his mind games. I'm tired of his constant subversion. When we capture him, he will be put on trial once more. If he is found to be guilty of spawning the Wither, I will have no choice but to sentence him to death." she revealed. My eyes widened.

"But Astrid, he's our brother!" I stammered.

"I have to do what is best for my kingdom." she reminded. "And he has constantly tried to undo my work. This Wither is killing more people and animals the longer it remains at large. And after all of this, once the public finds out he did it, then they will be demanding his head. And I can't just let him go because he is my brother. He is already responsible for Father's death, and he must pay for his actions." I wanted to argue, but I could see in her eyes that her mind was set.

"Alright..." I muttered.

"I'm sorry Joseph, but you understand just how powerful the public opinion can be. And we aren't a dictatorship like those at TN-Town, we don't silence the public." she added, taking a jab at TN-Town. I knew she always had disliked the way they ran things, and so did I.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." I told her. She nodded in response.

"Yes-oh wait!" she called as I was turning before pulling out a sheet of paper and writing on it with an ink-soaked feather. She then held it up and handed it to me. "This page will allow you to do pretty much anything you want in the Diamond Kingdom, with the exception of illegal activities. It has my signature. You can do anything legal, go anywhere you want, etc. It's really important that you don't lose this."

"Thanks, Astrid." I said to her as I turned and went out the room. Then, I looked at the royal guard that had my stuff.

"May I have my weaponry back?" I asked him. He nodded and began pulling everything he had taken from me out of his inventory and handing it all to me. "Thanks." I said once I got it all, and then I headed out.


	33. The Premonition

**I've managed to come out with an update for Chapter 15 and Chapter 29. I recommend that anyone who has already read it before this chapter was out go back and reread Joseph's interaction with Destiny. But for those who would rather not, I'll just go over what is new and what has been removed. **

**Destiny and Joseph are no longer strangers. They now see each other as siblings-Destiny more so due to knowing Joseph from what their siblings told her about him. ****They are now canonically siblings, though Joseph doesn't know Destiny as he had left on his journey to slay the beast shortly before Destiny had been conceived.**

**I recommend you check Chapter 15 out because from here on out, they will treat each other as siblings and it would be a good idea to see where their interaction began.**

After the meeting had ended and I had finished speaking with my sister, the queen, I would go on to shop in the town for the remainder of the day. After tons of tempting offers, I eventually ended up buying a Totem of Undying, an enchanted golden apple(which had been on sale, so I couldn't resist), a diamond that I used to repair my own diamond sword, some food, and a new chestplate for Destiny. Not much else happened during that time, so by the time it was night, I returned to my room in the inn and set my stuff down besides my bed before jumping in. I had not seen much of Destiny during the day.

I was tired after all that had happened during the day, and then I fell asleep.

_I dreamed that I was chasing a light. It was an unusual light that shimmered light blue. I was struggling to keep up with it, but as I tried harder to catch up, it only went further. It shrunk to the point that it disappeared, and then the scene changed to a dark sky with several pale islands suspended above the Void. I recognized it-it was the End, where we had fought and defeated the enderdragon. I could see someone and floated down to the ground to see what appeared to be my son fighting against a large skeleton in armor. I blinked, and then I watched as the scene changed to my brother, Lucian, and he was surrounded by illagers. But he wasn't being attacked by them, or taken hostage. He was speaking with them, making plans. Was this real, or was this my fear of what he might become? What were these things I was seeing?_

_The scene then changed to a large enderdragon flying across the skies of the Overworld as three of my team members chased it, along with three other people I couldn't see very well. After that, I saw a scene where a cloaked individual held a strange-looking block and had a teenager held hostage as three adults stood before them, their weapons raised against the cloaked person. Behind the cloaked person was what appeared to be a sort of portal, but it didn't resemble a Nether portal or an end portal whatsoever. I heard a pair of voices speak amongst themselves._

_'I see the man you mean...' the first one said._

_'Joseph Iron Stonefield?' replied the second._

_'Ah yes, careful now, it reached a higher level. It can read our very thoughts as though they were words on a screen...'_

_'Let it. It believes this to be merely a dream not to be taken seriously...'_

_'Ever since it defeated the enderdragon, it has become lazy. Much potential to change the world left wasted...'_

_'Of course, there are many who would prefer a life of joy and sorrows to one of duty and responsibility...'_

_'To think that this man could have been the hero we had thought it would be...'_

_'But now, that role has gone to its child. The one who will change this world.'_

_'Ah yes, it believes that the child stays home, but the path of a hero leads you down dangerous places, right?'_

_'Quite true. It will not believe what we say, for it is trapped by its own mindset, believing that dreams hold little meaning and how there are no spirits.'_

_'It will be forced to face the truth sooner or later... the truth of its own flaws.'_

_'That day will not be for some time, but it will happen.'_

_'For now, we shall continue to watch these two humans go down their respective paths. Farewell, blind one...' The dream faded away._

**There we have it. Now, I know this was a very short chapter, and the reason for that is that I primarily wanted to post an update regarding myself. Now, as many of you probably know, school starts very soon. Well, I'm officially going back to college starting tomorrow. This is likely going to shake up my schedule, and I'm not sure how much. I should still be able to post chapters whenever like how I usually do, but I felt it was important that I let you guys know firsthand. Now then, next up will be David's POV.**


	34. A New Discovery

**Fun Fact: Because this story takes place in the Minecraft world, one must expect that there will be glitches within the game. In fact, very rarely will glitches happen around or to our protagonists. This from a technical standpoint is because Minecraft is a pretty glitchy game, while from a story-telling standpoint it allows a certain someone to mess around with these silly bugs in-canon. Try to see if you can find them all(none have happened in any of the previous chapters, there's no way they'd pull a dirty move like that lol)! Also, all typos that you may find are from glitches, not at all from the certain someone! That certain someone is clearly the best speller in the world and never makes a mistake! Please believe them!**

**_David's POV _**

The past few days had been rough as our food supply ran out. We had been barely scraping by with what little food that we had, and were hungry. As we rode on our horses, I felt my tummy grumble for the fifth time this morning.

"Guys..." I called out to them. "I can't take it anymore, I'm going to eat my last apple." I said and pulled out the red food item from my inventory. Then, holding the delicacy and staring at it hungrily, I began to bite down onto it, tasting the sweet juiciness as I reduced it to particles. It made my hunger go away for the moment, but I knew that later, it would come back.

After a few moments, we decided to take a break and all jumped off our horses and landed in the snow. We were in a snowy area, and there were a lot of big hills around us.

"Alright guys, let's look around for something we can make into food..." Andy said as Emma immediately gasped as she ran towards what I realized was a pig. Then, I noticed there were a total of four of them. Our eyes widened as Andy and I glanced at each other. We both ran to the pigs as fast as we could.

"Look at them-they're so cute!" Emma shrieked as she began rubbing one's back. The pig looked back at her and closed its eyes with content.

"Oh man, I can't wait for these to fulfill my hunger!" Andy said as he pulled out his axe. Upon seeing the weapon, the pig that Emma had been rubbing squealed and ran off. Emma quickly looked back at him, a look of panic in her eyes.

"What? No, you can't! They're way too adorable to be turned into food!" she stammered.

"Emma, we need to eat..." I said to her. She looked back at me.

"No! I'd rather go hungry than eat something like that!" she yelled as she got back up and held out her arms to block us.

"Emma, please! We're in a snowy place and there's probably no other food for miles." I told her, but she shook her head.

"No, no, no! If you touch one of them, I'm going to scream, and I won't ever stop!" she threatened. Andy and I looked at each other. I could tell he was very hungry, but then he looked back at her.

"Fine, but we need to find more food somehow." he said. She sighed in relief.

"Thank you..." she said under her breath.

"Well guys, if we can't eat the pigs, then we'll need to go somewhere else for food." I said. "We'll need to split up for now. We'll regroup tonight where the horses are at. You guys think that's good?" Emma nodded and so did Andy. "Alright, let's go." I said and we each headed off in our own direction away from each other.

Several moments had passed by and I still hadn't found anything of interest, so I decided to climb up a mountain.

I grabbed onto each block ledge and pushed myself upwards each block, panting as I got higher up. It soon became very exhausting, and I was sweating despite it being very cold around me. By the time I got to the top, I collapsed onto the snow, panting heavily as I looked up at the sky. The sun had disappeared, and strange pixelated particles were beginning to fall from the sky. The particles fell around and on me, and I watched them as they all disappeared once they touched the ground. Then, I realized that they must've been snow! I wondered where Lucian and the Wither were. Every moment that we were away from Diamond City, the Wither was probably destroying another village. That thought pushed me back to my feet and I looked around the vast landscape from atop the mountain. It was a little tough to see through the snow, but not that much. I then noticed something strange in the distance and squinted to see better. It looked like a white... house? I immediately became interested and decided to make my way towards it. I started to climb back down the mountain.

It took a few moments, but I finally made it to the strange house. It was made out of white blocks that looked to be snow, and there was no door, so I just stepped inside of it. The interior of the house looked somewhat cozy, as it had a furnace, a crafting table, and a bed, as well as a redstone torch-just like the one I had in my room back at home! The floor was covered in white carpet.

"This is weird..." I said as I walked to the middle of the house. Suddenly, the carpet I stood on broke apart after I had stepped on it and revealed a hole. I became wide-eyed and fell into the hole, crying out in shock and fear. The space I was falling through was dark, but I could see light below me. And unless I did something, I was going to die! I quickly realized that the wall right next to me was covered in what looked like ladders and grabbed on, then felt a huge pain in my arms as I had stopped my fall. I yelled from the shock and pain, but held on and began to climb down.

After a moment, I had made it onto the bottom layer and jumped off the ladder, then looked around.

I was in a room made from stonebricks and some of them were cracked, while some others were mossy. I noticed some red carpets in the corner, and there was also a chest on the right side of the room. On the left was a strange large metal pot, a long table, a potted cactus, and a decoration that I realized was a brewing stand. At the end of the room, I noticed someone staring straight at me. They looked strange.

"Wh-who are you?" I asked them. He just stared at me, not saying anything back. "What is this place?" Suddenly, the strange person opened his mouth and replied with, "Huh?"

"I said what is this place? Who are you?" I repeated. He said nothing for a moment before replying with, "Hurr..."

"What?" I said. He just said, "Ha..."

"I can't understand you mister..." I said to him.

"Huh?" was all he said. That was when I realized that he was in a small chamber, trapped behind a stone block. Maybe this guy wasn't here by will? Maybe someone forced him here, and left him down here to be forgotten. That was when I noticed the zombie in another chamber right next to him. It looked strange just like the person, and it was staring straight at me, hungry eagerness showing in its eyes.

"Hold on, let me see..." I said as I went to the chest and opened it up. Inside, there was some wheat, a few apples, a stone axe, some rotten flesh, a bunch of gold nuggets, and what looked like another apple, but was yellow and glimmering. "Whoa!" I exclaimed as I snatched the apples and wheat right up. I took the stone axe out as well, Andy might like that to replace his wooden axe. Then, I noticed a book in it as well and grabbed it, but before I could look through it, I realized that it was probably getting close to nighttime. I put the book back and looked over at the strange-looking person.

"Uh, I gotta go, but I'll be back with some friends!" I promised him. He stared back at me and said, 'Hurr..." I left him with the zombie and climbed my way back up the ladder. Then, once I was back on the surface, I made my way back to where the horses were as fast as possible.


	35. A Golden Delicacy

**Fun Fact: There are various differences between a male Minecraftian and a female Minecraftian. One such difference is that males have larger arms while females have slimmer arms. The same goes with their eyebrows-a male's is larger compared to the slim female eyebrows. Another is that male Minecraftians have a black outline for their mouths, whereas female Minecraftians have a more pink outline, although male Minecraftians born within a Royal Family have a grey outline while the female Minecraftians have red outlines. Mouth outlines in the game are reminiscent of human lips, although they are not the same. A fourth difference is that male Minecraftians tend to be physically stronger than female Minecraftians, while the females tend to be able to move faster than the males.**

By the time I had made it back, the sun was setting and I could see my friends were already beginning to build a dirt house. They quickly noticed me.

"Thank goodness you're back, we were starting to get worried!" Emma said.

"You wouldn't believe the amount of trouble we had when we got back, the horses had been so far apart we nearly-" Andy started, but I interrupted him.

"Guys! I found a... snowy house... Inside, there's an underground room... and there's a strange... person!" I hollered, panting heavily because I had ran the entire way back. That drew their attention.

"Wait, what?" Andy said.

"You guys gotta follow me." I said as I jumped onto Starbringer and waited for them. Once they had gotten onto their horses, we rode towards the place as fast as we could.

Once we stopped in front of the snowy house, I jumped off my horse and placed down a fence to tie the horse to. I could tell that they were both taken by surprise by the discovery.

"Whoa, this is weird." Emma said as she walked in. We joined her.

"This isn't even it! There's a hole in the middle of the house that leads to an underground room." I said as I pointed to it. I noticed for the first time that the window the igloo had was ice instead of glass, which was cool! Andy went first and climbed down it, followed by me and then Emma.

Once we were finally in the underground room, I watched as they gasped at the sight of the strange person.

"Hi mister!" Emma hollered as she ran over to him. "You look strange!" He simply replied with, "Hurr..." Andy turned to look at me.

"Did you see anyone else here?" he asked. I shook my head. "That guy doesn't seem to know how to talk." I told him. "The zombie looks strange too! I think it might be a zombie version of that guy." I pointed out as he turned to look at it. Then, I turned back to the chest that had the book I didn't look at before and went over to it, pulling out the item and taking a look at the cover, which read: _'My Studies of the Overworld,'_ before putting it away into my inventory. "I think we should stay here for the night." Emma looked back at me.

"Sounds like a plan! But I'm not going to sleep with that zombie watching me." she said.

"Yeah, we should kill it." Andy agreed.

"But wait guys!" I stopped them. "I think there's probably a reason that this zombie was trapped here. We've never seen anything like it. I think we should keep it alive, just for the night at least." I reasoned.

"Well... maybe you're right. But if it climbs out, I'm blaming you!" she said. I turned back to the zombie and, as it groaned, I placed a dirt block between it and I. I could still hear it, but it was much more faint.

"There we go." I said. She smiled.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed as we all sat down. "Now, I'm hungry! Did you get anything, because I sure didn't." I went through my inventory and pulled out the apples. "I found about four normal apples, and this strange golden apple." I said as I showed them the golden apple.

"Wow! That's awesome! It all looks super delicious, especially the golden apple!" Emma stammered.

"Yeah well, no need to drool, cuz here you go!" I said with a chuckle as I tossed her and Andy a normal apple, then put the golden apple in between us and kept the last apple for myself. At once, we all began to munch on the apples. I could feel the empty hole in my stomach fill up a little more. After we had finished, I noticed Andy's hand slowly reaching for the golden apple and Emma immediately stopped it with her own hand.

"Hey, David found this place, he should get the golden apple!" she scolded and he winced.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help myself..." he admitted.

"No, guys, I've already had two apples today. One of you should have it." I said. Emma gave me a surprised look.

"Nuh-uh! You deserve it more! You found the place that gave us food! You deserve the best of the best!" she argued. I shook my head.

"No, you guys are hungrier. One of you should have it." I insisted.

"Emma, you can have it." Andy decided. She looked at him.

"What is with you guys? You should have it if David won't!" she argued. Andy shook his head. I could tell he felt guilty about trying to snatch it.

"I swear, it feels like peer pressure at this point!" she said as she swiped the golden apple. "Fine! Even though I don't need it!" She then proceeded to take a bite from the golden apple, and her face scrunched up for a moment before pure joy covered it. "Oh, wow! This is the best thing I have ever eaten!"

"Really?" I responded, already regretting my decision to be a good guy about this. She took another bite.

"Yes! It tastes so sweet and sour! Oh my gosh, it's actually amazing!" she stammered as she finished off the apple. Then, as soon as she was out of the flavor, her face turned upset. "You guys deserved that way better than me! But thanks for letting me have it..." she then muttered. I laughed at the sudden change and then Andy laughed with me. A few moments passed as we began telling each other jokes again like how we did every night. We were now reusing jokes, but some of them were really good, so I didn't mind the repetition.

Emma decided to go to sleep, and then Andy joined her while I decided to look at that book I had taken from the chest. I picked it out from my inventory and looked back at the title. It read: '_My Studies of the Overworld._' I opened up the book and began reading.

_"Page One of Thirteen_

_Journal #3_

_I had come across one of the many villages that populate this world. However, unlike most of the other ones, this one was populated by villagers. I took one of them back to my hut and had it contained within a small chamber right next to a zombie villager I had secured the night before. The undead epidemic which plagues this world is an mysterious one. I will have to conduct many experiments to see if it is possible to 'cure' a villager that has been infected and zombified.'_ I flipped to the next page.

_'Page Two of Thirteen_

_After many failed attempts, I managed to successfully come up with a cure that should theoretically work. Many of my attempts had succeeded in the past, but only temporarily, as the entity quickly died off again and reanimated. This time, I have reason to believe that if one were to use a splash potion of weakness and throw it at an infected zombie villager, then their immune system would be temporarily shut down. After that, if one were to then introduce a golden apple to the body of said zombie villager, then it would begin to change. From a medical standpoint, it seems that its immune system would then begin to 'reboot' and then realize that the zombie virus has taken ahold of it. After its realization of this, the immune system would take at most half a day to effectively fully drive out the plague from the individual's body, and the subject should be 'cured,' experiencing heavy nausea for ten seconds before regaining complete and total control of their own body.'_

_T__his is weird,_ I thought to myself while reading all of this. I could barely understand any of these complicated words and sentences. I continued to try to read the page. _'And while this appears to work on zombified villagers, it curiously does not seem to affect zombified humans the same way. In fact, trying the same method appears to have little to no effect. This seems to confirm a theory that I have had for a while now-that villagers and humans are very different despite being similar in appearance. I will continue to search for a way to cure zombified humans as well.'_

_Welp, that's enough for my tired_ _brain_, I thought to myself as I laid on the ground. I understood a little of what they were talking about. Something about how a potion of weakness and a golden apple were needed to cure a zombie, which was a crazy thought to me. Too bad Emma had finished off the apple earlier. I sighed and closed my eyes. The person in the chamber had stopped mumbling, so I guess he was sleeping too, though I could faintly hear the zombie groaning behind the dirt block. As I relaxed my mind and body, I slowly drifted off into the dream world.

**Yeah, that's right! Emma just ate one of the only things required to cure a zombie villager, and now I'm mad, just like some of you are! Grrr! Okay, I'm joking. But anyways, what's going to happen next? I sure don't know(okay, I do, but you guys don't), so I'm sure to stay tuned, and I hope you are too!**


	36. Training against Witches

_When I opened my eyes, I was back in the dreamscape, within an island floating over the endless Void. I could see many purple mysterious plants sprouting from the ground, until they towered up in the sky. And standing ahead of me was my master, the Spectral Hero, with his sword and shield out as he stood, ready for me to start._

_I felt my new stone sword in my hand and charged at him, hollering as I ran to the side of him and swinging. The Spectral Hero blocked my attack with his shield and swung back at at me, but I jumped to the side and rolled around him, performing the Circular Slash as I jumped in the air and swung. The ghostly knight then jumped away from my swing before my blade could make contact and I ended up swinging at air before I landed back on my feet. Then, he ran at me with his sword raised. Just as he was upon me, he brought his sword down, though I managed to jump to the side just in time. I swung my sword back at him, and he caught it with his own and we were engaged in a power struggle, pushing our weapons against each other. Then, his strength overwhelmed my own, and he pushed me back._

_I stood and watched him carefully and he did the same, walking around me steadily as he held his sword in front of him. Then, he suddenly went for a stab, and I sidestepped the thrust just in time for it to shoot past me. I retaliated with a swing at his unprotected arm, slamming the stone weapon down against it and knocking his sword out of his hand as he let out a grunt. Now that he didn't have a weapon, I went on the offense, swinging my blade at him over and over again. He managed to block many of the attacks with his shield, but then I performed the Circular Slash and rolled around him again and managed to strike his back, knocking him forwards before he jumped ahead and grabbed his sword, then swung it at me sideways. I realized my mistake and dodged past the attack, but he then brought his weapon back and it struck me and knocked me to the ground with a groan. I steadily got back to my feet, but he then thrusted his sword at me, and I was sent back against one of the purple plants with a cry._

_"You performed well this time..." he complimented, 'however, what caused me to regain the upper hand was allowing me to reclaim my weapon."_

_"I know..." I responded, looking down and frustrated with myself._

_"See, you already are recognizing your own mistakes. Take that as a sign that you are evolving. The first step of a warrior is to learn from their mistakes, and strive to become better." he explained._

_"Hey, Master? You said that we were getting close to Diamond City a few days ago." I pointed out, "But are we really that close? We've been traveling for a long time, and we're really low on food..." He stared at me for a moment before he spoke._

_"As I am your mentor, I cannot be the one that tells you what to do or where to go. To do so would cause you to stray from your chosen path. I will, however, tell you that you are nearly upon the old kingdom. And as for your current situation, I recommend you give the scientist's journal some attention. The man that it belongs to was from an ancient time, back when villagers and humans lived in harmony on the Overworld, and he has since left this world, with only three journals being what remains of him." he informed._

_"Is there something special about him? Or is he just some really smart guy?" I asked him. He looked at me with a strange look, as if he was thinking hard about what to say._

_"He... he was an interesting character, to say the least. The amount of things he managed to figure out about our world... Anyways, he is gone, and copies of his work were the only thing left behind. It is unlikely that you will ever find the other two books, however, and right now, finding them is of little importance. What is important is that I teach you your next lesson." Upon hearing this, I looked back at him._

_"What are you going to teach me?" I asked him._

_"I will teach you how to fight against a particular variation of illagers: the witch." he revealed._

_"A witch? What's that?" I asked._

_"Witches are vile creatures. During the day, they brew nasty potions in order to use them at night against anyone that they find. You will likely come face to face with one soon, whether it be underground or at night. They are a difficult variation of illagers to fight against, as they throw hazardous potions in an effort to stun or weaken you." He raised his sword. "If she hits you with a potion of slowness, you will move at a fraction of the speed you moved before, while if she hits you with a potion of weakness, your strength will begin to rapidly deteriorate to the point that you will pass out. Sometimes, a witch will start a fight off with throwing a potion of poison at you as well, which will drain away at your life force for many moments. And finally, a witch can utilize potions of harming, which will deal damage directly to you. My best suggestion for you if you find a witch is to hide. Do not engage her. Do not let her find you. If you are spotted, run as fast as you can before she can consume a potion of swiftness and chase after you. You might lose her that way. However, if there are no options other than to fight, I will teach you how to fight to survive." he explained. The whole time, I was shuddering hearing just how dangerous these illagers were from him._

_"__When you are engaged in a battle with one, it is more important than anything else that you avoid her potions. No matter what potion it is, if you are hit by it, then you will lose that battle. A witch often drinks a potion of swiftness at the start of a battle, so it will be tough to catch her as well. But it isn't impossible. This mob is unlike any that you have met before, so I will train you differently." he said as he raised his sword and stuck it to the ground. A person in a dark purple robe appeared, with a large nose that had a weird and gross-looking lump on it. It must've been a witch._

_The witch noticed me and pulled out a bottle containing a light blue liquid and began drinking it before particles began to float away from her._

_"It is time for you to try and defeat this witch. Show me." he ordered. I raised my sword and glared at the illager. She chuckled to herself and threw a bottle containing a dark liquid. I ran to the side, but felt woozy as I heard the bottle shatter against the ground. Then, I noticed particles float in my vision as the Spectral Hero shook his head and waved his arm. The wooziness instantly vanished._

_"Wrong. You cannot take the time to run from the bottle, you must act immediately." he told me. "Again." I waited on the witch to throw another bottle._

_The moment she did, I lunged in front, just barely missing the bottle midair as I moved past. Then, I landed on the ground with a grunt, and got to my feet just as she threw another, this one shattering against me and knocking... me... back... a... little... But... this... time... some... thing... was... off..._

_The... Spectral... Hero... shook... his... head... again... very... fast..._

_"Youmessedup,youjumpedforwardandfailedtolandproperly,thereforeyoutooktoolongtogetupandwerehitwithapotionofslowness." he... said... though... I... could... not... under... stand... what... he... was... saying... because... he... was... speaking... too... fast... The... Spectral... Hero... waved... his... hand... again... and everything sped back up._

_"Whoa..." I said, shaking my head to make sure everything was alright. "What was that?"_

_"Because of your sloppy landing, your opponent was able to hit you with another potion." he explained. "Try again."_

_I waited again for the witch and she threw another potion at me. This time, I jumped past the potion and landed on my hands and feet before dashing past her next potion. Then, I raised my sword and let out a yell as I jumped into the air towards her, but then I felt another bottle shatter against my body and was knocked back. This time, I felt pain and a lot of it as I cried out in agony._

_"Ahhhh! Make it stop!" I screamed, and the Spectral Hero waved his hand, and the pain left my body._

_"That would be the poison. You must always watch out for the last potion." he warned. "As you have noticed, it is incredibly painful. That is especially the case for someone at your age, however, when you grow older, the pain lessens, although it is still intense whenever you are poisoned. Try again. We will continue this until you have succeeded." he said as the witch in front of him gave me a mean smile while she tossed a potion in her hands. Was she enjoying that I had been in such terrible pain? How could anyone be so cold?_

_Just as she threw her first potion, I jumped forwards, but this time my timing was off and I launched myself right into the flying potion. It shattered against my face and I closed my eyes in reaction. Then, I started feeling the woozy feeling again and started becoming weak. The feeling faded as the Spectral Hero waved his hand once again._

_"Dangit!" I cursed to myself angrily, but tried to stay calm as I readied myself once again. I _had _to do this. I waited for her to throw her potion again, and as she did, I jumped forwards just past the potion, then landed on my hands and feet, pushing myself back up and ran under her second potion. Then, I remembered her third and waited for her to throw it before jumping to the side and then running at her, jumping into the air, and slamming my sword down onto her. She grumbled as her body flashed red before she pulled out another potion and threw it, and I quickly ducked as it flew over my head, then ran at her._

_This time, she ran out of the way faster than my eyes could even follow, and she threw another. But I was absolutely determined not to get hit, and I lunged past it, landing on the ground and getting to my feet as fast as possible. I swung the blade up at her, striking her for the second time before she pulled out a bright red potion. I prepared myself to dodge it, but she began drinking it._

_"Go, now!" the Spectral Hero ordered. "Attack now!" I ran at the witch and slammed my sword against her, causing her to flash red again. She tried to move away, but she was too slow when she was drinking her potion, and I landed one more powerful strike onto the witch and she burst into particles with a final groan. I turned back to my master and had a smile on my face._

_"Good. You did not let your anger get the best of you. With the witch, you need to pay full attention to what she does in order to slay her. Remember, witches are illagers, not people. They care not if you are a child, they would happily kill you. And if you fight with one, one wrong move will cost you your life." he reminded._

_"Now then, as you know, in the waking world, you have found a strange individual." he noted._

_"Oh yeah, I meant to ask you about that. What's up with him and the zombie?" I asked._

_"The being is not a human, it is a villager. In fact, it is among the remaining of its species. As for the zombie, that is what a villager turns into once they have been slain by a zombie. Villagers have been thought to have been extinct for centuries, so the fact that you have found one is quite a discovery." he explained. My eyes lit up as I became excited._

_"Wait, really? So, we just found an incredibly rare person?" I asked. He nodded._

_"Yes, and with that book, you can determine the way to cure the zombie, which would then allow you to have a pair of them. However, it is important that you remind yourself that they are not objects. Villagers went nearly extinct because of their dull-wittedness, however, that does not make them any less deserving of respect as any other living thing." he reminded. I nodded._

_"So, if I were to bring a couple villagers to Diamond City, they would let us in, right?" I realized._

_"This would be your best chance. Otherwise, as far as the old kingdom's royal family is concerned, you are just another kid on the street." he said._

_"Wow, okay. I'll try to cure the zombie tomorrow." I promised._

_"If you do this, you will be responsible for bringing life back into the Overworld. A species thought to have been wiped out for centuries can now rise up and live among the humans, and all because of you." he said. "You are not the same child as the one I first met. You truly are becoming a heroic prodigy. With that in mind, you must build your confidence." I nodded in understanding._

_"I understand."_

_"Good. Now, it is time for you to return to the waking world." he said as he raised his sword and lowered it to his knees. "'People isn't a term used for a specific species. It is used to bring together different groups. It's a term used to make those you can't normally relate to relatable. In that sense, it can be considered a loving word.' Those are the words of a professor that did not get the attention that he deserved. You would do well to remember them. Now, farewell for now..." he said as the dream vision faded away._


	37. The Cure

**Fun Fact: The way that potions work are different in this story from how they work in reality. In this version, they work more like how they do in Minecraft: Story Mode. For those who haven't played, basically swiftness potions make one run incredibly fast, and strength potions allow one's physical power to increase exponentially. Potions of leaping allow one to jump incredibly high(they better have feather falling, an enderpearl, or a bucket of water), while potions like weakness steadily gets rid of the energy a person has to the point that they black out. Some potions, such as invisibility potions and healing potions, are completely unchanged though.**

I woke up to see Andy looking at a book. He looked completely absorbed. I couldn't see Emma anywhere down here. She was probably outside doing whatever.

"Hey, Andy, I didn't know you could read." I joked tiredly before realizing that the book he was reading was mine. He looked back at me with an annoyed look.

"Ha ha..." he replied sarcastically.

"Hey, where'd you get that book?" I stammered. I thought I had put it in my inventory before I fell asleep.

"You were sleeping and it was in your grip, so I figured I'd check it out." I chose not to think about the fact that he just admitted to stealing it from my own hand.

"Could I have it back?" I asked.

"Where'd you get this book from?" he questioned, not answering my request.

"I got it from the chest." I said as I pointed to the chest. While he was distracted, I took the opportunity to yank it out of his hand, and he raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey dude, sorry if I upset you." he replied. "But seriously, whoever was here was some sort of genius. He's done all kinds of stuff."

"Yeah, well, I'm hoping to cure that zombie." I said, pointing to the dirt block. He gave me a nervous look.

"Well, Emma ate the golden apple we would've needed to do that, so..."

"That's true..." I muttered. I assumed that to make a golden apple, we would need both gold and an apple, which was why I was happy that I had chosen to save the fourth apple for later. I looked back through the chest to see if we could use anything. I noticed there were a total of eight gold nuggets. _Maybe I could make a golden apple with nuggets?_ I thought as I pulled them out and went over to the crafting table. I began placing gold nuggets with the apple, trying to figure it out. After a long moment of trying out different patterns, I gave up.

"It's not working. I don't know how we're going to get gold..." I sighed. I was seriously starting to regret giving up the golden apple yesterday.

"Well, what are we supposed to do? Just leave this zombie here?" Andy replied. I went through my inventory and pulled out some emeralds.

"Maybe there's a village nearby? Perhaps we can buy the gold-" Andy interrupted me with his arm and brought my attention over to the villager, who was staring at me. I saw with shock as the villager was holding a gold bar in his hand. I began to approach him, putting my emeralds away as I got closer, but then he lost interest in me and put away his gold bar. Curious, I took out an emerald and held it in my hand. This time, he brought out some weird blue thing and held it out for me.

"What? No, please bring out the gold?" I asked the villager kindly. He just stared at me, speaking in his strange language.

"Try taking some more emeralds out? That might do something." Andy pointed out. I brought five more emeralds out and held them in my hand where he could see them. The villager exchanged his blue things with gold.

"Awesome!" I exclaimed. "You want to trade that gold for these emeralds?" The villager just stared at me. I hoped that was what he was thinking, as I brought the emeralds closer to him, he brought the gold closer to me. Once I grabbed onto the gold, he grabbed the emeralds, and we exchanged them. I showed Andy the gold bars with a smile.

"That's great, this guy is a trader!" I said as I counted the gold bars. There were four of them in total. Maybe I should buy four more? I tossed Andy the apple and the gold for him to try crafting the golden apple while I turned back to the villager and brought out seven emeralds. He looked back at me and brought out more gold. We exchanged them, and he handed me one emerald back. I remembered that I only needed to trade six emeralds with him and took the emerald. Maybe he wasn't that dumb after all?

I turned and went back over to Andy as he was putting gold and the apple around the crafting table. Handing him the four more gold, I watched as he put the apple in the center and surrounded it with gold bars. Then, the items merged together and turned into a single golden apple.

"Awesome, we did it!" he exclaimed. I cheered at our victory. Then, he picked it up.

"Gosh, it sure looks delicious..." he muttered.

"Don't-" I said before he interrupted me.

"I wasn't going to, hah!" he said with a smile. "Got you!" I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed.

"Now, we're going to need to get a potion of weakness." he said, looking around. I pointed at the bottle in the brewing stand.

"Maybe that's it?" I suggested and he went over to it, looking at the brewing stand.

"The label says... splash potion of weakness-that's it!" he said with a smile as he picked it up. I went over to the dirt block and broke it with my fists, and saw as the zombie noticed us, and began struggling to grab for us. It was much more aggressive than it had been yesterday, and I had no idea why, but it scared me. I remembered that day when me and Emma were out late at night and there were monsters all around us as we tried to go back to the village.

Andy aimed the potion and threw it as hard as he could at the zombie, causing it to stumble back against the wall with a snarl from the impact before it surged back towards us. It was trying to climb through the one block opening, but it was too big to fit through. I could see dark grey particles floating away from it. The two of us stared at the angry zombie villager for a moment before looking back at each other.

"Yeah, I'm not getting near that thing..." Andy said, tossing me the apple. "You deal with it, I'll go get Emily." And with that, he started climbing up the ladder and disappeared.

Nervously, I stepped closer to the zombie. As I stared into its red eyes, my body began to shake uncontrollably. Why was I so terrified? I had fought these things before and been somewhat okay about it, so why was I so scared to get close to it? I realized the answer, _because I never realized just how much it wanted to eat me..._ What if it grabbed me and pulled me in? There would be no way I could escape such a crowded space with a giant monster that wanted to eat me alive. That realization terrified me so much that I couldn't move my legs.

"Oh my gosh..." I stammered, sweat beginning to pour out of my body. "I don't want to do this... but I need to..." I forced myself to take another step closer, and the zombie grew more excited. I slowly reached in with the golden apple in my hand, trying hard to avoid the zombie's own hand as my arm drifted further and closer to the zombie's own mouth. Then suddenly, the zombie grabbed onto my arm.

I struggled to pull back. "Let go!" I cried out, and for a split second, I saw a faint memory. All I saw was me being pulled underwater by a zombie, and struggling to get away. I snapped out of it and pulled away as much as I could, but the zombie held on. It wasn't pulling me in, probably because it was weak from the potion, but it wouldn't let go of me, and I was starting to panic.

"Let go of me!" I screamed as I grabbed my arm and pushed away from the wall with my feet. This time, I managed to finally break away from the monster and fell back onto the floor, panting heavily and shaking uncontrollably as the golden apple went flying. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." I stammered as I got back onto my feet. Andy was counting on me to finish this before he got back with Emma, and I didn't want to disappoint him. But I was terrified of that zombie. I didn't know what memory I had just had, but the thought of being pulled underwater by a zombie terrified me.

I mustered up my courage and grabbed the apple before I stepped back to the hole in the wall. Shuddering, I brought the apple back out, and my arm went back to the opening, moving closer and closer to the zombie's mouth. I moved my arm out of the way as the zombie pushed one of its own arms through the hole, and before it could grab onto me, I slammed the golden apple into the face of the zombie villager, pushing it back before the zombie grabbed onto my arm again.

"Let go!" I cried out as I yanked my arm out of the zombie's grasp and fell onto my back, panting heavily as I looked at the zombie villager. It was growling and trying to reach through the hole still, but I noticed that it was now beginning to shudder and that the particles that were coming from it were now reddish. The zombie looked different in a way I never thought it would be. It looked sick. But it was still just as angry and hungry as before.

I waited for a moment before I heard Andy and Emma climbing down the ladder. Then, they appeared and saw me.

"Hey David!" Emma greeted with a smile before her face was filled with concern. "Whoa, you don't look so good. Are you okay?" I stood up from the ground and straightened myself.

"Uh, yeah! I'm fine..." I stammered. Andy noticed me.

"Are you sure? You look like you went through a panic attack or something..." he said.

"I'm..." I paused for a short moment, "I'm okay. I gave the zombie a golden apple."

"Oh wow, now it's shaking!" Emma exclaimed as she ran over to it. "Now it looks like it's afraid of us!" she said with a mischievous look as she jumped up to the opening and started making spooky faces.

"Emma, don't get too close!" I yelled as I ran ahead to her.

"Nah, don't worry about me! He's too scaredy cat to try and grab me!" she said as she looked back at me, a confident smirk on her face. Just then, the zombie surged forward and grabbed onto her hair. Shock spread across her face as she was pulled back and I grabbed onto her arm. Andy was right behind me and grabbed onto her boot. She screamed in pain as the zombie used her hair to grip her. I didn't want to keep pulling her because she was in serious pain, but we couldn't let the zombie get her. We tugged with all our might and her screams were filling the entire room before I heard a loud noise that sounded a little bit like wind as we surged back onto the ground. In a panic, I looked for her, wondering if her hair fell out, then with relief saw her on the ground right in front of us with her hair intact. Overcome with relief, I looked for the zombie, wondering why it had let go. In the chamber where the zombie had been, there was another villager, who was staring back at us as he spoke in his strange language.

Andy and I got back to our feet, while Emma stayed on the ground, sobbing as tear particles fell from her face. Andy went to her and began comforting her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She looked back at him and, through her tears, replied.

"Do I look okay to you?" she wept.

"I-I'm sorry." he stammered. I wanted to comfort her too, but I didn't know how I could without seeming like a jerk. I _did_ tell her not to get near. But she probably wouldn't want me to say that when she was hurt, so I just looked at the villager. He looked very sick for a moment before straightening himself and staring at me. But one thing stood out to me.

"Wait... They both look like guys..." I said. Now, I knew that there was a lot of things about the world I didn't know, but I thought that in order to spawn a kid, there needed to be a guy and a girl. I might've been wrong, but I thought I remembered one of the kids at the village saying that one time. The others looked back at the villager.

"Oh no, does that mean we can't save the villagers from extinction?" I stammered.

"Villagers?" Emma questioned, "Extinction?" I looked back at her.

"I think I told you about it after you woke up that day. About how we had encountered and were taken hostage by the illagers? They mentioned that villagers were extinct." I reminded her. She gasped as she remembered.

"Oh, I forgot about that..." she said. "Well, maybe we should just go..."

"Or take them with us!" I replied. "Maybe we didn't cure a female villager, so the species might not stay alive, but I think they might still let us get through if we bring them." I pointed out.

"Good idea! Let's bust them out!" she exclaimed, already cheerful despite the whole situation that had just happened with her.

Andy and I pulled out our pickaxes and mined away at the iron bars keeping them in their chambers. And then, we guided them up the stairs, which took a while, before we all left the igloo hut that had served as our shelter for the night. Then, we all got onto our horses(I had NO clue how the horses were able to carry the weight of the villagers), and rode off to the north once more.


	38. Notice: Temporary Hiatus

**Sorry it's gone on for so long without any sort of update, but better late than never. Anyways, I wanted to give an update on what's going on. Turns out, college is a bit different from high school-who'da thunk? Anyways, in the current environment I'm in, I feel uncomfortable with writing more of my story, and so until I feel more comfortable about it, I'm going to focus on my schoolwork. Not to mention that lately, I've been unmotivated to write my story. The story's going on hiatus, but it'll be a temporary hiatus, not permanent. Sorry to those disappointed, but my own grades and future comes first for me. I'm not going to give estimates on how long it'll be, because that'll just put pressure on me that I don't need at this time. You just gotta trust me on this one. Sorry if I let some of you guys down, but I'm sure those of you who have gone to college will understand. If you really don't want to lose touch of this story, just go ahead and set up an alert for this story(it won't work if you don't have an account and read anonymously). Don't worry, this hiatus hopefully won't go on for months.**


	39. Return Notice

**I wanted to let you guys know that I have not abandoned this series. I am currently rebooting The Struggle For Survival, but I do plan to write A Hero's Path alongside it. And now, I am in the phase of figuring out how I want to continue the story. When I had gone on hiatus, yeah, it was because I had trouble balancing writing with attending college, but it was also because I had hit a roadblock in my story. I actually have to put a lot of attention on the amount of days that pass since both David and his father left the village, otherwise I could end up in a situation where the timeline of the story doesn't quite add up(which is a major no for me). It got to the point that I just wanted to stop writing for a while, because it was really stressful(basically, I can go through my chapters and count how many days for each have passed, but I easily forget it and have to reread. Now, I'm going to write it down, which I admittedly should've done before). I'm planning to push past this roadblock now, and my plans are to write two series simultaneously, so if I get bored and want to take a break from one, I can focus on the other. But as usual, there's no promises that this will work out perfectly. At the end of the day, I'm just trying new things. In the meantime, why not try rereading the whole thing? I frequently make edits to my stories even after I first upload them(usually just clearing up typos, but occasionally to add or remove sentences that I think should be done), so the story might be a little different from how you remember.**

**I prefer to think of my stories less as fanfictions and more as story-driven tv shows. Let's say that A Hero's Path is about to get a second season ;)**


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